CHICAGO  AND  THE 
OLD  NORTHWEST 

1673-1835 


[.M.QJJAIFE 


LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

STEWART  S.  HOWE 

JOURNALISM  CLASS  OF  1928 

STEWART  S.  HOWE  FOUNDATION 

977 


cop.  2 


I.H.S. 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


Agents 
THE  CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON  AND  EDINBURGH 

THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

TOKYO,  OSAKA,  KYOTO 

KARL  W.  HIERSEMANN 

LEIPZIG 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  COMPANY 

NEW   YOKE 


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CHICAGO  AND  THE 
OLD  NORTHWEST 

l673-l835 

A  STUDY  OF  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE 
NORTHWESTERN  FRONTIER,  TOGETHER 
WITH  A  HISTORY  OF  FORT  DEARBORN 


BY 

MILO  MILTON  QUAIFE,  PH.D. 

Professor  of  History  in  the  Lewis  Institute 
of  Technology 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


COPYRIGHT  1913  BY 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  CHICAGO 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  October  igij 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 


There  are  many  histories  of  Chicago  in  existence,  yet  none  of 
them  supplies  the  want  which  has  induced  the  preparation  of  the 
present  work.  It  has  been  written  under  the  conviction  that 
there  is  ample  justification  for  a  comprehensive  and  scholarly 
treatment  of  the  beginnings  of  Chicago  and  its  place  in  the  evo- 
lution of  the  old  Northwest.  I  have  endeavored  to  produce  a 
readable  narrative  without  in  any  way  trenching  upon  the  prin- 
ciples of  sound  scholarship.  To  what  extent,  if  any,  I  have 
succeeded  must  be  for  the  reader  to  judge.  I  may,  however, 
claim  the  negative  virtue  of  entire  freedom  from  the  motives  of 
commercial  gain  and  family  partisanship,  which  enter  so  largely 
into  our  local  historical  literature. 

In  preparing  the  work  I  have  made  as  diligent  a  study  of  the 
sources  as  practicable,  at  the  same  time  availing  myself  freely  of 
the  studies  of  others  in  the  same  field.  With  one  exception 
acknowledgment  of  my  obligations  to  the  latter  is  made  in  the 
footnotes.  The  manuscript  of  a  lecture  by  the  late  Professor 
Charles  W.  Mann  on  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre  was  put  at 
my  disposal.  I  have  used  it  as  far  as  it  served  my  purpose 
without  attempting  to  cite  it  in  the  footnotes. 

In  many  places  I  have  broken  new  ground  and  I  can  scarcely 
expect  my  work  to  be  entirely  free  from  error.  I  am  particularly 
conscious  of  this  in  connection  with  chap,  xiii  on  the  Indian 
Trade,  a  subject  to  which  a  volume  might  well  be  devoted.  In 
controversial  matters  I  have  written  without  fear  or  favor  from 
any  source.  If  in  many  cases  my  conclusions  seem  to  differ  from 
those  of  other  writers,  I  can  only  say  that  the  words  of  a  recent 
historian  with  reference  to  history  writing  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
"Recorded  events  were  accepted  without  challenge,  and  the 
sanction  of  tradition  guaranteed  the  reality  of  the  occurrence," 
apply  with  almost  equal  force  to  much  of  the  literature  pertaining 
to  early  Chicago. 


vi  PREFACE 

I  desire  to  express  my  obligation  for  courtesies  rendered, 
or  facilities  extended,  to  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  the 
Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society,  the  Detroit  Public  Library, 
the  Division  of  Manuscripts  of  the  Library  of  Congress,  the 
Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  the  War  Department.  I  am 
indebted  also  for  many  favors  to  Miss  Caroline  Mcllvaine, 
librarian,  and  Mr.  Marius  Dahl,  record  clerk,  of  the  Chicago 
Historical  Society;  to  Mr.  C.  M.  Burton,  of  Detroit;  to  the 
descendants  of  Nathan  Heald,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  McCluer 
and  Mrs.  Arthur  McCluer,  of  O'Fallon,  Mo.,  Mrs.  Lillian  Heald 
Richmond  and  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Ottofy  of  St.  Louis,  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wright  Johnson,  of  Rutherford,  N. J. ;  and  to  my  wife  and 
to  my  father-in-law,  Rev.  G.  W.  Goslin,  for  unwearied  assistance 
in  the  preparation  and  revision  of  the  manuscript.  Finally  I 
wish  to  record  my  deep  obligation  to  Dr.  Otto  L.  Schmidt,  presi- 
dent of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  for  much  sympathetic 
advice  and  encouragement. 

M.  M.  QUAIFE 
CHICAGO 

September,  1913 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE j 

II.    CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 21 

III.  THE  Fox  WARS:   A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT    ...  51 

IV.  CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION 79 

V.    THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST 105 

VI.    THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN 127 

VII.    NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .  153 

VIII.    THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA 178 

IX.    THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR 195 

X.    THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT 211 

XI.    THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS 232 

XII.    THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN 262 

XIII.  THE  INDIAN  TRADE 285 

XIV.  WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE 310 

XV.    THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN 340 

APPENDIX  I:   Journal  of  Lieutenant  James  Strode  Swearingen     .      .  373 
APPENDIX  II:    Sources  of  Information  for  the  Fort  Dearborn  Mas- 
sacre         378 

APPENDIX  III:   Nathan  Heald's  Journal 402 

APPENDIX  IV:    Captain  Heald's  Official  Report  of  the  Evacuation  of 

Fort  Dearborn 406 

APPENDIX  V:    Darius  Heald's  Narrative  of  the  Chicago  Massacre, 

as  Told  to  Lyman  C.  Draper  in  1868 409 

APPENDIX  VI:  Lieutenant  Helm's  Account  of  the  Massacre  .  .  .  415 
APPENDIX  VII:  Letter  of  Judge  Augustus  B.  Woodward  to  Colonel 

Proctor  concerning  the  Survivors  of  the  Chicago  Massacre  .  .  422 
APPENDIX  VIII:  Muster-Roll  of  Captain  Nathan  Heald's  Company 

of  Infantry  at  Fort  Dearborn  425 

APPENDIX  IX:  The  Fated  Company:  A  Discussion  of  the  Names 

and  Fate  of  the  Whites  Involved  in  the  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre  428 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 439 

INDEX 459 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE 

The  story  of  Chicago  properly  begins  with  an  account  of  the 
city's  natural  surroundings.  For  while  her  citizens  have  striven 
worthily,  during  the  three-quarters  of  a  century  that  has  passed 
since  the  birth  of  the  modern  city,  to  achieve  greatness  for  her, 
it  is  none  the  less  true  that  Nature  has  dealt  kindly  with  Chicago, 
and  is  entitled  to  share  with  them  the  credit  for  the  creation  of 
the  great  metropolis  of  the  present  day.  If  in  recent  years  the 
enterprise  of  man  rather  than  the  generosity  of  Nature  has 
seemed  chiefly  responsible  for  the  growth  of  Chicago,  in  the  long 
period  which  preceded  the  birth  of  the  modern  city  such  was  not 
the  case;  for  whatever  importance  Chicago  then  possessed  was 
due  primarily  to  the  natural  advantages  of  her  position. 

Since  this  volume  is  to  tell  the  story  of  early  Chicago,  con- 
cluding at  the  point  where  the  life  of  the  modern  city  begins,  it 
is  not  my  purpose  to  dwell  upon  the  natural  advantages  which 
today  contribute  to  the  city's  prosperity.  Her  central  location 
with  respect  to  population,  surrounded  by  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  square  miles  of  country  as  fair,  and  supporting  a  population 
as  progressive,  as  any  on  the  face  of  the  globe;  her  contiguity 
to  the  wheat  fields  of  the  great  West;  her  situation  in  the  heart 
of  the  corn  belt  of  the  United  States;  the  wealth  of  coal  fields 
and  iron  mines  and  forests  poured  out,  as  it  were,  at  her  feet; 
her  unrivaled  systems  of  transportation  by  lake  and  by  rail;  how 
all  these  factors,  reinforced  by  the  daring  energy  of  her  citizens, 
have  combined  to  render  Chicago  the  industrial  heart  of  the 
nation  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge.  That  in  the  days 
before  the  coming  of  the  railroad  or  the  settler,  when  for  hundreds 
of  miles  in  every  direction  the  wilderness,  monotonous  and  un- 
broken, stretched  away,  inhabited  only  by  the  wild  beast  and 
the  wild  Indian;  when  only  at  infrequent  intervals  were  its 


2  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

forest  paths  or  waterways  traversed  by  the  fur  trader  or  the 
priest,  the  representatives  of  commerce  and  the  Cross,  the  two 
mightiest  forces  of  the  civilization  before  the  advance  of  which 
the  wilderness  was  to  give  way;  that  even  in  this  far-away 
period  Nature  made  of  Chicago  a  place  of  importance  and  of 
concourse,  the  rendezvous  of  parties  bent  on  peaceful  and  on 
warlike  projects,  is  not  so  commonly  understood. 

The  importance  of  Chicago  in  this  early  period  was  primarily 
due  to  the  fact  of  her  strategic  location,  whether  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  war  or  of  commerce,  at  the  head  of  the  Great  Lakes 
on  one  of  the  principal  highways  of  travel  between  the  two 
greatest  interior  waterway  systems  of  the  continent,  those  of  the 
Great  Lakes-St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi  River.  The  two 
most  important  factors  in  the  exploration  and  settlement  of  a 
country  are  the  waterways  and  mountain  systems — the  one  an 
assistance,  the  other  an  obstacle,  to  travel.1  The  early  English 
colonists  in  America,  settling  first  in  Virginia  and  Massachusetts 
and  gradually  spreading  out  over  the  Atlantic  coastal  plain, 
were  shut  from  the  interior  of  the  continent  by  the  great  wall 
presented  by  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  The  French,  securing 
a  foothold  about  the  same  time  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
River,  found  themselves  in  possession  of  a  highway  which 
offered  ready  access  into  the  interior.  The  importance  of  the 
rivers  and  streams  as  highways  of  travel  in  this  early  period  is 
difficult  to  realize  today.  The  dense  forests  which  spread  over 
the  eastern  half  of  the  continent  were  penetrated  only  by  the 
narrow  Indian  trail  or  the  winding  river.  The  former  was  pass- 
able only  on  foot,  and  even  by  pack  animals  but  with  difficulty.2 
The  latter,  however,  afforded  a  ready  highway  into  the  interior, 
and  the  light  canoe  of  the  Indian  a  conveyance  admirably 
adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  river  travel.  By  carrying  it  over 
the  portages  separating  the  headwaters  of  the  great  river  sys- 
tems the  early  voyageurs  could  penetrate  into  the  heart  of  the 
continent. 

1  Farrand,  Basis  of  American  History,  23. 
•Ibid. 


THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE  3 

Proceeding  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  French  colonists  early 
gained  the  Great  Lakes.  Their  advance  rested  here  for  a  time, 
but  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century,  by  a  great 
outburst  of  exploring  activity,  the  upper  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
were  gained  and  eagerly  followed  to  their  outlet  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Thus  New  France  found  a  second  outlet  to  the  sea, 
and  thus,  even  before  the  English  had  crossed  the  Alleghenies, 
the  French  had  fairly  encircled  them,  and  planted  themselves 
in  the  heart  of  the  continent.  From  the  basin  of  the  Great 
Lakes  to  that  of  the  Mississippi  they  early  made  use  of  five 
principal  highways.3  On  each,  of  course,  occurred  a  portage  at 
the  point  where  the  transfer  from  the  head  of  the  one  system  of 
navigation  to  the  other  occurred.  One  of  these  five  highways 
led  from  the  foot  of  Lake  Michigan  by  way  of  the  Chicago  River 
and  Portage  to  and  down  the  Illinois.  The  Chicago  Portage 
thus  constituted  one  of  the  "keys  of  the  continent,"  as  Hulbert, 
the  historian  of  the  portage  paths,  has  so  aptly  termed  them.4 

The  comparatively  undeveloped  state  of  the  field  of  American 
historical  research  is  well  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  despite 
the  historical  importance  of  the  Chicago  Portage,  no  careful 
study  of  it  has  ever  been  made.  The  student  will  seek  in  vain 
for  even  an  adequate  description  of  the  physical  characteristics 
of  the  portage.  Winsor's  description,  a  paragraph  in  length,  is 
perhaps  the  best  and  most  authoritative  one  available.5  Yet, 
aside  from  its  brevity,  neither  of  the  two  sources  to  which  he 
makes  specific  reference  can  be  regarded  as  reliable  authorities 

j  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  IV,  224. 
•  Hulbert,  Portage  Paths:  The  Keys  of  the  Continent. 

s  "What  Herman  Moll,  the  English  cartographer,  called  the  'land  carriage  of  Chekakou' 
is  described  by  James  Logan,  in  a  communication  which  he  made  in  1718  to  the  English 
Board  of  Trade,  as  running  from  the  lake  three  leagues  up  the  river,  then  a  half  a  league 
of  carriage,  then  a  mile  of  water,  next  a  small  carry,  then  two  miles  to  the  Illinois,  and  then 
one  hundred  and  thirty  leagues  to  the  Mississippi.  But  descriptions  varied  with  the 
seasons.  It  was  usually  called  a  carriage  of  from  four  to  nine  miles,  according  to  the  stage 
of  the  water.  In  dry  seasons  it  was  even  farther  while  in  wet  times  it  might  not 
be  more  than  a  mile;  and,  indeed,  when  the  intervening  lands  were  'drowned,'  it  was  quite 
possible  to  pass  in  a  canoe  amid  the  sedges  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Des  Plaines,  and  so 
to  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi." — Winsor,  Mississippi  Basin,  24.  For  similar  descrip- 
tions see  Hulbert,  Portage  Paths,  181;  Jesuit  Relations,  LIX,  313-14,  note  41. 


4  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

upon  the  Chicago  Portage.  Moll,  the  cartographer,  notable 
for  his  credulous  temperament,6  relied  for  his  knowledge  of  the 
Great  Lakes  region  upon  the  discredited  maps  of  Lahontan.7 
James  Logan,  whose  description  of  the  portage  is  quoted,8  was 
a  reputable  official  of  Pennsylvania,  but,  in  common  with  the 
seaboard  English  colonists  generally,  his  knowledge  of  the 
geography  of  the  interior  was  extremely  hazy.  This  is  suffi- 
ciently shown  by  the  fact  that  he  located  La  Salle's  Fort  Miami, 
which  had  stood  during  the  brief  period  of  its  existence  at  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  River,  on  the  Chicago. 

That  there  should  be  confusion  and  misconception  in  the 
secondary  descriptions  of  the  Chicago  Portage  is  not  surprising, 
in  view,  on  the  one  hand,  of  the  unusual  seasonal  variations  in 
its  character,  and,  on  the  other,  of  the  dispute  which  very  early 
arose  concerning  it.  None  of  the  other  portages  between  the 
Great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi — if  indeed  any  in  America — 
were  subject  to  such  changes  as  this  one.  The  dispute  over  its 
character  goes  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  French  exploration 
of  this  region.  When  Joliet  returned  to  Canada  from  his 
famous  expedition  down  the  Mississippi  in  1673,  filled  with 
enthusiasm  over  his  discoveries,  he  gave  out  a  glowing  account 
of  the  country  he  had  visited.  In  particular  he  seems  to  have 
dwelt  upon  the  ease  of  communication  between  the  Great  Lakes 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  way  of  the  Chicago  and  Illinois 
rivers  to  the  Mississippi.  Joliet's  records  were  lost,  but  both 
Frontenac,  the  governor  of  New  France,  and  Father  Dablon 
have  left  accounts  of  his  verbal  report.9  Frontenac  stated 
that  a  bark  could  go  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  with  only  a  portage  of  half  a  league  at  Niagara. 
Dablon,  who  seems  to  have  appreciated  the  situation  more 
intelligently  than  Frontenac,  said  that  a  bark  could  go  from 

4  Winsor,  Mississippi  Basin,  80,  104,  in,  163. 

*  Moll's  map  in  his  Atlas  Minor  is  simply  an  English  copy  of  Lahontan's  map  of  1703. 
For  the  latter  see  Lahontan,  New  Voyages  to  North  America  (Thwaites  ed.),  I,  156. 

8  For  the  substance  of  Logan's  report  see  the  British  Board  of  Trade  report  of  Septem- 
ber 8,  1721,  printed  in  O'Callaghan,  Documents  Relative  to  the  Colonial  History  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  V,  621.  This  will  be  cited  henceforth  as  New  York  Colonial  Documents. 

'  Winsor,  Cartier  to  Frontenac,  246-47;  Jesuit  Relations,  LVIII,  105. 


THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE  S 

Lake  Erie  to  the  Gulf  if  a  canal  of  half  a  league  were  cut  at  the 
Chicago  Portage. 

Probably  Dablon's  report  represents  more  nearly  than  that 
of  Frontenac  what  Joliet  actually  said,  for  it  seems  unlikely 
that  he  would  ignore  utterly  the  existence  of  the  portage  at 
Chicago.  Even  so,  however,  his  description  of  the  ease  of  water 
communication  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi 
River  was  unduly  optimistic.  Its  accuracy  was  sharply  chal- 
lenged by  La  Salle  upon  his  visit  to  Chicago  several  years  later. 
Joliet  passed  through  Illinois  but  once,  rather  hurriedly,  know- 
ing nothing  of  the  country  aside  from  what  he  learned  of  it 
on  this  trip.  He  was  ill-qualified,  therefore,  to  describe  accu- 
rately the  Illinois-Chicago  highway  and  portage;  at  the  most 
he  could  describe  only  the  conditions  prevailing  at  the  time  of 
his  hasty  passage.  La  Salle,  on  the  other  hand,  was  operating 
in  the  Illinois  country  from  1679  to  1683,  seeking  to  establish  a 
colony  with  its  capital  at  the  modern  Starved  Rock,  one  hundred 
miles  from  Chicago.  He  was  greatly  interested  in  developing 
the  trade  of  this  region,  and,  while  he  looked  forward  ultimately 
to  securing  a  southern  outlet  for  it,  for  the  present  he  must  find 
such  outlet  by  way  of  Canada.  In  the  course  of  his  Illinois 
career  he  passed  between  his  colony  and  Canada  several  times, 
and  from  both  necessity  and  self-interest  became  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  routes  of  communication  which  could  be  fol- 
lowed. He  himself  ordinarily  came  by  the  Great  Lakes  to  the 
foot  of  Lake  Michigan  and  thence  by  the  St.  Joseph  River  and 
portage  or  the  Chicago  to  the  Illinois,  but  he  became  convinced 
that  it  would  not  be  practicable  to  carry  on  commerce  between 
his  Illinois  colony  and  Canada  through  the  upper  lakes,  and  that 
a  route  by  way  of  the  Ohio  River  and  thence  to  the  lower  lakes 
and  Canada  was  more  feasible. 

In  discussing  this  subject  La  Salle  was  led  to  take  issue  with 
Joliet  as  to  the  feasibility  of  navigation  between  Lake  Michigan 
and  the  Illinois,  and  so  to  state  explicitly  what  the  hindrances 
were.10  The  goods  brought  to  Chicago  in  barges  must  be 

10  Margry,  Dfcouvertes  et  ttablissements  des  Franqais  dans  I'ouest  et  dans  le  sud  de 
I'Amfrique  septentrionale,  II,  81-82.  This  collection  will  be  cited  henceforth  as  Margry. 


6  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

transshipped  here  in  canoes,  for,  despite  Joliet's  assertions,,  only 
canoes  could  navigate  the  Des  Plaines  for  a  distance  of  forty 
leagues.  At  a  later  time  La  Salle  reverted  to  this  subject,  and 
in  this  connection  gave  the  first  detailed  description  we  have  of 
the  Chicago  Portage."  From  the  lake  one  passes  by  a  channel 
formed  by  the  junction  of  several  small  streams  or  gullies,  and 
navigable  about  two  leagues  to  the  edge  of  the  prairie.  Beyond 
this  at  a  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  league  to  the  westward  is  a 
little  lake  a  league  and  a  half  in  length,  divided  into  two  parts  by 
a  beaver  dam.  From  this  lake  issues  a  little  stream  which, 
after  twining  in  and  out  for  half  a  league  across  the  rushes,  falls 
into  the  Chicago  River,  which  in  turn  empties  into  the  Illinois. 

The  "channel"  was  the  main  portion  and  south  branch  of 
the  modern  Chicago  River.  The  lake  has  long  since  disappeared 
by  reason  of  the  artificial  changes  brought  about  by  engineers; 
in  the  early  period  of  white  settlement  at  Chicago  it  was  known 
as  Mud  Lake.  La  Salle's  "Chicago  River,"  into  which  Mud 
Lake  ordinarily  drained,  was,  of  course,  the  modern  Des  Plaines. 

Continuing  his  description  of  the  water  route  by  way  of  the 
Chicago  and  Des  Plaines,  La  Salle  pointed  out  that  when  the 
little  lake  in  the  prairie  was  full,  either  from  great  rains  in  summer 
or  from  the  vernal  floods,  it  discharged  also  into  the  "channel" 
leading  to  Lake  Michigan,  whose  surface  was  seven  feet  lower 
than  the  prairie  where  Mud  Lake  lay.  The  Des  Plaines,  too, 
in  time  of  spring  flood,  discharged  a  part  of  its  waters  by  way 
of  Mud  Lake  and  the  channel  into  Lake  Michigan.  La  Salle 
granted  that  at  this  time  Joliet's  proposed  canal  of  half  a  league 
across  the  portage  would  permit  the  passage  of  boats  from  Lake 
Michigan  to  the  sea.  But  he  denied  that  this  would  be  possible 
in  the  summer,  for  there  was  then  no  water  in  the  river  as  far 
down  as  his  post  of  St.  Louis,  the  modern  Starved  Rock,  where 
at  this  season  the  navigation  of  the  river  began.  Still  other 
obstacles  to  the  feasibility  of  Joliet's  proposed  canal  were  pointed 
out.  The  action  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  had  created  a 
sand  bank  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River  which  the  force 

••  Margry,  pp.  166  ff. 


of  the  current  of  the  Des  Plaines,  when  made  to  discharge  into 
the  lake,  would  be  unable  to  clear  away.  Again,  the  possibility 
of  a  boat's  stemming  the  spring  floods  of  the  Des  Plaines,  "much 
stronger  than  those  of  the  Rhone,"  was  doubtful.  But  if  all 
other  obstacles  were  surmounted,  the  canal  would  still  have  no 
practical  value  because  the  navigation  of  the  Des  Plaines  would 
be  possible  for  but  fifteen  or  twenty  days  at  most,  in  time  of 
spring  flood;  while  the  navigation  of  the  Great  Lakes  was 
rendered  impossible  by  the  ice  until  mid-April,  or  even  later,  by 
which  time  the  flood  on  the  Des  Plaines  had  subsided  and  that 
stream  had  become  unnavigable,  even  for  canoes,  except  after 
some  storm. 

Thus  there  was  initiated  by  La  Salle  a  dispute  over  the  char- 
acter of  the  water  communication  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the 
Mississippi  by  way  of  the  Chicago  Portage  which  has  been 
revived  in  our  own  day,  and  in  the  decision  of  which  property 
interests  to  the  value  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  are 
involved.12  Of  the  essential  correctness  of  La  Salle's  descrip- 
tion there  can  be  no  question.  Considering  its  early  date  and 
the  many  cares  with  which  the  mind  of  the  busy  explorer  was 
burdened,  it  constitutes  a  significant  testimonial  to  his  ability 
and  powers  of  observation.  It  may  well  be  doubted  whether 
any  later  writer  has  improved  upon — if,  indeed,  any  has  equaled 
— La  Salle's  description  of  the  Chicago-Des  Plaines  route. 
From  its  perusal  may  be  gathered  the  clue  to  the  fundamental 
defect  in  the  descriptions  of  the  Chicago  Portage  which  modern 
historians  have  given  us.  Overlooking  the  fact  that  the  Des 
Plaines  River  was  subject  to  fluctuation  to  an  unusual  degree, 
they  err  in  assuming  that  the  portage  ceased  when  the  Des 
Plaines  was  reached.  The  portage  was  the  carriage  which  must 
be  made  between  the  two  water  systems.  Hulbert  is  quite 
right  in  saying,  as  he  does,  that  none  of  the  western  portages 
varied  more  in  length  than  did  this  one.13  In  fact  his  words 

"  The  United  States  of  America  vs.  The  Economy  Light  and  Power  Company.  The 
evidence  taken  in  this  case  constitutes  by  far  the  most  exhaustive  study  of  the  character 
and  historical  use  of  the  Chicago  Portage  that  has  ever  been  made. 

"Hulbert,  Portage  Paths,  181. 


8  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

possess  far  more  significance  than  the  writer  himself  attaches 
to  them;  for  the  length  of  the  carriage  that  must  be  made  at 
Chicago  varied  from  nothing  at  all  to  fifty  miles  or,  at  times,  to 
even  twice  this  distance.  At  times  there  was  an  actual  union 
of  the  waters  flowing  into  Lake  Michigan  with  those  entering 
the  Illinois  River,  permitting  the  uninterrupted  passage  of 
boats  from  the  one  system  to  the  other.  At  other  times  the 
portage  which  must  be  made  extended  from  the  south  branch 
of  the  Chicago  to  the  mouth  of  the  Vermilion  River,  some 
fifty  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Plaines. 

It  is  doubtless  true  that  "truth,  crushed  to  earth,  will  rise 
again,"  but  the  converse  proposition  of  the  poet  that  error  dies 
amid  its  worshipers  requires  qualification.  Certainly  in  the 
matter  under  discussion  La  Salle  as  early  as  1683  dealt  the  errors 
of  Joliet  with  respect  to  the  Chicago  Portage  a  crushing  blow. 
Yet  these  self-same  errors  were  destined  to  "rise  again,"  and  in 
the  early  nineteenth  century  it  was  again  commonly  reported 
that  a  practicable  waterway  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Missis- 
sippi could  be  attained  by  the  construction  of  a  canal  a  few 
miles  in  length  across  what  for  convenience  may  be  termed  the 
short  Chicago  Portage,  from  the  south  branch  of  the  Chicago 
River  through  Mud  Lake  to  the  Des  Plaines.  Even  capable 
engineers  threw  the  weight  of  their  opinion  in  support  of  this 
fallacy.14  But  the  young  state  of  Illinois  learned  to  her  cost,  in 
the  hard  school  of  experience,  the  truth  of  La  Salle's  observations. 
The  canal  of  half  a  league  extended  in  the  making  to  a  hundred 
miles  and  required  for  its  construction  years  of  time  and  the 
expenditure  of  millions  of  dollars. 

We  may  now  consider  the  dispute  between  Joliet  and  La  Salle 
over  the  character  of  the  Chicago  Portage  in  the  light  of  the 
information  afforded  by  the  statements  of  later  writers.  It  will 
follow  from  what  has  already  been  said  that  the  secondary 
statements,  whether  of  travelers  or  of  gazetteers  and  other 
compendiums  of  information,  made  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  must  be  subjected  to  critical  examination. 

»« E.g.,  Major  Stephen  H.  Long.    For  his  report  see  the  National  Register,  III, 


THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE  9 

The  only  way  in  which  this  may  be  done  is  by  a  resort  to  the 
sources;  and  our  conclusions  concerning  the  Chicago-Illinois 
Portage  and  route  must  be  based  upon  the  testimony  of  those 
who  actually  used  it,  or  were  familiar  with  the  use  made  of  it  by 
others.  A  study  of  these  sources  makes  it  clear  that  the  Des 
Plaines  River  was  subject  to  great  fluctuation  at  different  seasons, 
or  even  as  between  periods  of  drought  and  periods  of  copious 
rainfall,  and  that  the  length  and  character  of  the  portage  at  any 
given  time  depended  entirely  upon  the  stage  of  water  in  the 
Des  Plaines.  During  the  brief  period  of  the  spring  flood  boats 
capable  of  carrying  several  tons  might  pass  between  Lake 
Michigan  and  the  Des  Plaines  and  along  the  latter  stream  with- 
out meeting  with  obstacles  other  than  those  incident  to  the  high 
stage  of  the  water.  The  extreme  range  of  the  fluctuation  was 
many  feet.15  Its  effect  upon  the  character  of  the  Des  Plaines 
was  to  cause  it  to  pass  through  all  the  gradations  from  a  raging 
torrent  to  a  stream  with  no  discharge,  dry  except  for  the  pools 
which  marked  its  course.  There  were  times,  then,  in  connection 
with  these  fluctuations,  when  the  stream  might  be  navigable 
for  canoes,  although  it  would  not  permit  the  passage  of  boats 
of  greater  draft. 

The  duration  of  the  spring  flood  was  put  by  La  Salle  at 
fifteen  or  twenty  days.  At  this  time  the  flood  was  heavier  than 
that  of  the  Rhone,  and  a  portion  of  it  found  its  way  through 
Mud  Lake  and  the  south  branch  of  the  Chicago  River  into 
Lake  Michigan.  The  effect  of  this  on  the  portage,  obvious  in 
itself,  is  described  in  many  of  the  sources.  Marquette,  who 
was  flooded  out  of  his  whiter  camp  on  the  South  Branch  in  the 
latter  part  of  March,  1675,  found  no  difficulty,  aside  from  the 
obstacles  presented  by  the  floating  ice,  in  passing  from  that 
point  down  the  Des  Plaines.16  He  reports  the  water  as  being 
twelve  feet  higher  than  when  he  passed  through  here  in  the  late 

"  Schoolcraft  estimated  its  depth  in  the  seasons  of  periodica  ^oods  at  eight  to  ten 
feet  (Summary  Narrative  of  an  Exploratory  Expedition  to  the  Sources  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
in  1820,  398).  See  also  Marquette's  description  of  the  spring  flood  of  1675,  in  Jesuit 
Relations,  LIX,  181. 

16  Marquette's  Journal,  Jesuit  Relations,  LIX,  181. 


io  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

summer  of  1673.  In  1821,  in  a  time  of  high  water,  Ebenezer 
Childs  passed  up  the  Illinois  and  Des  Plaines  rivers  to  Chicago 
in  a  small  canoe.17  No  month  or  date  is  given  for  this  trip, 
but  Childs  expressly  states  that  there  had  been  heavy  rains  for 
several  days  before  his  arrival  at  the  Des  Plaines.  He  was 
unable  to  find  any  signs  of  a  portage  between  the  Des  Plaines 
and  the  Chicago.  When  he  had  ascended  the  former  to  a  point 
where  he  supposed  the  portage  should  begin  he  left  it  and  taking 
a  northeasterly  course  perceived,  after  traveling  a  few  miles, 
the  current  of  the  Chicago.  The  whole  intervening  country 
was  inundated,  and  not  less  than  two  feet  of  water  existed  all  the 
way  across  the  portage.  Two  years  later  Keating,  the  his- 
torian of  Major  Long's  expedition  to  the  source  of  the  St.  Peter's 
River,  which  passed  through  Chicago  in  early  June,  1823,  was 
informed  by  Lieutenant  Hopson,  an  officer  at  Fort  Dearborn, 
that  he  had  crossed  the  portage  with  ease  in  a  boat  loaded  with 
lead  and  flour.18  Of  similar  purport  to  the  testimony  of  Childs 
and  Hopson  is  the  account  given  by  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard  of  his 
first  ascent  of  the  Des  Plaines  with  the  Illinois  "brigade"  of  the 
American  Fur  Company  in  the  spring  of  iSig.19  The  passage 
from  Starved  Rock  up  the  river  to  Cache  Island  against  the  heavy 
current  was  difficult  and  exhausting.  From  this  point,  with  a 
strong  wind  blowing  from  the  southwest,  sails  were  hoisted  and 
the  loaded  boats  passed  rapidly  up  the  Des  Plaines  and  across 
the  portage  to  the  Chicago,  "regardless  of  the  course  of  the 
channel." 

With  the  subsidence  of  the  spring  flood  the  Des  Plaines  fell 
to  so  low  a  stage  as  to  become  unnavigable,  even  by  the  small 
boats  ordinarily  employed  by  the  fur  traders  and  travelers, 
except  at  such  times  as  the  river  was  raised  by  rains.  Accord- 
ing to  La  Salle,  it  was  "not  even  navigable  for  canoes"  except 
after  the  spring  flood,  and  it  would  be  easier  to  transport  goods 

17  Wisconsin  Hist.  Colls.,  IV,  162-63. 

'•  Keating,  Expedition  to  the  Source  of  St.  Peter's  River,  .  ...  in  the  Year  1823, 1, 166. 

"  Hubbard,  Gurdon  Saltonstall,  Incidents  and  Events  in  the  Life  of,  60.  MS  in  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society  library.  This  work  will  be  cited  henceforth  as  Life. 


THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE  n 

from  Lake  Michigan  to  Fort  St.  Louis  by  land  with  horses,  than 
by  the  use  of  boats  on  the  river.20 

This  statement  of  La  Salle  is  corroborated  by  many  other 
observers.  St.  Cosme's  party  of  Seminary  priests  which  passed 
from  Chicago  down  the  Illinois  in  the  early  part  of  November, 
i698,21  was  compelled  to  portage  eight  leagues  or  more22  along 
the  Des  Plaines,  in  addition  to  the  three  leagues  across  from  the 
Chicago  to  that  stream,  and  almost  two  weeks  were  consumed 
in  passing  from  Chicago  to  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Plaines,  a 
distance  of  about  fifty  miles.23  In  describing  the  journey  St. 
Cosme  states  that  from  Isle  la  Cache  to  Monjolly,  a  space  of 
seven  leagues,  "you  must  always  make  a  portage,  there  being 
no  water  in  the  river." 

In  September,  1721,  Father  Charlevoix,  touring  America 
for  the  purpose  of  reporting  to  his  king  the  condition  of  New 
France,  came  to  the  post  of  St.  Joseph.  His  ultimate  destina- 
tion was  lower  Louisiana;  from  St.  Joseph  to  the  Illinois  River 
proper  two  alternative  routes  were  presented  for  his  considera- 
tion, the  one  by  way  of  the  St.  Joseph  Portage  and  down  the 
Kankakee  River,  the  other  around  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Michigan  to  Chicago  and  thence  down  the  Des  Plaines.  His 
first  intention  was  to  follow  the  latter,  but  this  was  abandoned 
in  favor  of  the  route  by  the  Kankakee,  partly  because  of  a  storm 
on  Lake  Michigan,  but  also  for  the  additional  reason  that  since 
the  upper  Illinois,  the  modern  Des  Plaines,  was  a  mere  brook,  he 
was  told  it  did  not  have,  at  this  season,  water  enough  to  float  a 
canoe.24  In  his  passage  down  the  Kankakee  the  traveler 
observed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Plaines  a  buffalo  crossing  the 

"Margry,  II,  168. 

"  Shea,  Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi,  45  ff 

"  The  distances  given  in  St.  Cosme's  detailed  account  total  this  amount.  La  Source's 
general  statement  is  that  the  party  portaged  fifteen  leagues  (ibid.,  83),  but  this,  apparently, 
included  the  distance  between  the  Chicago  River  and  the  Des  Plaines. 

>J  The  party  left  Chicago  October  29,  and  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Plaines 
November  n. 

34  Charlevoix,  Histoire  et  description  gentrale  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  avec  le  journal 
hlstoriQue  d'qn  voyage  fait  par  ordre  dtt  roi  dans  I'Amlrique  septenlrionale,  VI,  104. 


12  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

stream.  Although  sixty  leagues  from  its  source,  Charlevoix 
noted  that  the  Des  Plaines  was  still  so  shallow  that  the  water 
did  not  rise  above  the  middle  of  the  animal's  legs.25 

A  hundred  years  after  Charlevoix's  passage  down  the  Illinois, 
in  midsummer,  1821,  Governor  Cass  and  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft 
came  up  that  stream  in  a  large  canoe  en  route  for  Chicago.  The 
observant  Schoolcraft  has  left  a  careful  and  detailed  narrative 
of  their  experiences,  and  a  description  of  the  Illinois  River  as 
continued  in  the  Des  Plaines.26  The  party  was  compelled  to 
abandon  the  canoe  at  Starved  Rock,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
journey  to  Chicago  was  made  on  horseback.  The  route  taken 
was  in  general  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  although  the  actual 
channel  was  observed  only  occasionally.  The  result  of  this 
observation  was  the  conclusion  that  the  "long  and  formidable 
rapids"  seen  by  the  travelers  completely  intercepted  navigation 
at  this  sultry  season.  This  conclusion  was  further  confirmed 
by  meeting  several  traders  on  the  plains  who  were  transporting 
their  goods  and  boats  in  carts  from  the  Chicago  River.  They 
thought  it  practicable  to  enter  the  Des  Plaines  at  Mount  Joliet, 
thus  necessitating  a  portage  of  about  thirty  miles,  but  School- 
craft  in  recording  this  opinion  points  out  that  his  own  party 
had  experienced  difficulties  far  below  this  point.  Although 
himself  an  enthusiast  on  the  subject  of  the  future  commercial 
importance  of  Chicago,  and  of  the  utility  of  a  canal  connecting 
the  Chicago  and  Illinois  rivers,  Schoolcraft's  experience  on  this 
journey  led  him  to  call  attention  to  the  error  of  those  who 
supposed  a  canal  of  only  eight  or  ten  miles  in  length  would  be 
sufficient  to  provide  a  navigable  highway  between  Lake  Michi- 
gan and  the  Illinois.  This  opinion  was  approved  by  Thomas 
Tousey  of  Virginia,  another  enthusiast  on  the  subject  of  the 
canal,  who  explored  the  route  of  the  Des  Plaines  on  horseback 
in  the  autumn  of  182 2. a?  Although  the  water  was  uncommonly 

"Op.cit.,  118. 

*  Schoolcraft,  Travels  in  the  Central  Portions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  313  ff. 

17  Schoolcraft,  Personal  Memoirs  of  a  Residence  of  Thirty  Years  with  the  Indian  Tribes 
on  the  American  Frontiers,  170-80. 


THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE  13 

high  for  the  season,  Tousey's  investigation,  while  imbuing 
him  with  a  "more  exalted"  opinion  of  the  country  and  the  pro- 
posed canal  communication,  convinced  him  that  it  would  be 
attended  with  greater  expense  to  open  than  he  had  formerly 
supposed. 

The  conditions  encountered  by  John  Tanner  in  a  journey 
from  Chicago  down  the  Illinois  River  in  the  year  i82o28  were 
similar  to  those  described  by  Schoolcraft  the  following  year. 
Tanner  was  traveling  from  Mackinac  to  St.  Louis  in  a  birch- 
bark  canoe.  Some  Indians  who  were  accompanying  him 
turned  back  before  reaching  Chicago,  on  receiving  from  others 
whom  they  met  discouraging  accounts  of  the  stage  of  the  water 
hi  the  Illinois.  Tanner,  however,  persevered  in  his  enterprise. 
After  a  period  of  illness  at  Chicago  he  engaged  a  Frenchman, 
who  had  just  returned  from  hauling  some  boats  across  the  portage, 
to  take  him  across  also.  The  Frenchman  agreed  to  transport 
Tanner  sixty  miles,  and  if  his  horses,  which  were  much  worn 
from  the  previous  long  journey,  could  hold  out,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles,  the  length  of  the  portage  at  the  present  stage 
of  water.  With  his  canoe  in  the  Frenchman's  cart  and  Tanner 
himself  riding  a  horse  belonging  to  the  latter,  the  overland 
journey  began.  Before  the  first  sixty-mile  stage  had  been 
completed  the  Frenchman  became  ill.  He  turned  back,  there- 
fore, and  Tanner  and  his  one  companion  attempted  to  put  their 
canoe  in  the  water  and  continue  their  journey.  The  water  was 
so  low  that  the  members  of  the  party  themselves  were  compelled 
to  walk,  the  men  propelling  the  canoe  by  walking,  one  at  the 
bow  and  the  other  at  the  stern.  After  three  miles  had  been 
laboriously  traversed  in  this  fashion  a  Pottawatomie  Indian 
was  engaged  to  take  the  baggage  and  Tanner's  children  on  horse- 
back as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow  Ochre  River,29  while 
Tanner  and  his  companion  continued  to  propel  the  now  lightened 

"  Narrative  of  the  Captivity  and  Adventures  of  John  Tanner,  256-59.  This  work  will 
be  cited  henceforth  as  Tanner's  Narrative. 

"  The  similarity  of  names  and  distance  from  Chicago  render  it  probable  that  Tanner 
here  refers  to  the  Vermilion  River. 


14  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

canoe  as  before.  On  reaching  the  Yellow  Ochre  a  sufficient 
depth  of  water  was  found  to  permit  the  further  descent  of  the 
Illinois  in  the  loaded  canoe. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  account  of  the  passage  of  the 
portage  in  the  dry  season,  and  in  some  respects  the  most  detailed, 
is  the  one  contained  in  the  autobiography  of  Gurdon  S.  Hub- 
bard.30  Beginning  with  1818,  for  several  years,  with  a  single 
exception,  Hubbard  accompanied  the  Illinois  "brigade"  of  the 
American  Fur  Company  on  its  annual  autumnal  trip  from  Macki- 
nac  by  way  of  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Chicago  Portage  to  the 
lower  Illinois  River.  Only  the  first  crossing  of  the  portage,  in 
October,  1818,  is  described  in  detail.  Leaving  Chicago  the  party, 
comprising  about  a  dozen  boat  crews,  camped  a  day  on  the 
South  Branch  near  the  present  commencement  of  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal,  preparing  to  pass  the  boats  through  Mud  Lake 
to  the  Des  Plaines.  Mud  Lake  drained  both  ways,  into  the 
Des  Plaines,  and  through  a  narrow,  crooked  channel  into  the 
South  Branch,  and  only  in  very  wet  seasons,  Hubbard  states, 
did  it  contain  water  enough  to  float  an  empty  boat.  The  mud 
was  very  deep  and  the  lake  was  surrounded  by  an  almost  impene- 
trable growth  of  wild  rice  and  grass. 

From  the  South  Branch  the  empty  boats  were  pulled  up  the 
channel  leading  from  Mud  Lake.  In  many  places  where  there 
was  a  hard  bottom  and  absence  of  water  they  were  placed  on 
short  rollers,  and  in  this  way  were  propelled  along  until  the  lake 
was  reached.  Here  mud,  thick  and  deep,  was  encountered,  but 
only  at  rare  intervals  was  there  any  water.  Four  men  stayed 
in  the  boat  while  six  or  eight  more  waded  in  the  mud  alongside. 
The  former  were  equipped  with  boat-poles  to  the  ends  of  which 
forked  branches  of  trees  had  been  fastened.  By  pushing  with 
these  against  the  hummocks,  while  the  men  in  the  mud  lifted 
and  shoved,  the  boat  was  jerked  along.  The  men  in  the  mud 
frequently  sank  to  their  waists,  and  at  times  were  forced  to  cling 
to  the  boat  to  prevent  going  over  their  heads.  Their  limbs 
were  covered  with  bloodsuckers  which  caused  intense  agony 

"Hubbard.  Life,  39-41. 


THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE  15 

for  several  days,  and  sleep  at  night  was  rendered  hopeless  by 
the  swarms  of  mosquitoes  which  assailed  them.  Yet  three 
consecutive  days  of  toil  from  dawn  until  dark  under  such  condi- 
tions were  required  to  pass  all  the  boats  through  Mud  Lake  and 
reach  the  Des  Plaines  River. 

The  passage  down  the  Des  Plaines  and  the  Illinois  as  far  as 
the  mouth  of  Fox  River  consumed  almost  three  weeks  more. 
Until  Cache  Island  was  reached  the  journey  was  comparatively 
easy,  although  even  in  this  portion  of  the  Des  Plaines  progress 
was  frequently  interrupted  by  the  necessity  of  making  portages 
or  passing  the  boats  along  on  rollers.31  From  Cache  Island  to 
the  Illinois  River  the  goods  were  carried  on  the  men's  backs 
most  of  the  way,  while  the  lightened  boats  were  pulled  over  the 
shallow  places,  often  being  placed  on  poles  and  thus  dragged 
over  the  rocks  and  shoals.  In  the  autumn  of  1823  Hubbard 
was  sent  to  a  post  on  the  Iroquois  River.  To  shorten  his  journey 
and  "avoid  the  delays  and  hardships  of  the  old  route  by  way 
of  Mud  Lake  and  the  Des  Plaines"  he  resolved  to  travel  to  his 
destination  by  way  of  the  St.  Joseph  Portage  and  the  Kankakee 
River.  A  year  later  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Illinois 
River  posts  of  the  American  Fur  Company.  He  thereupon 
proceeded  to  execute  a  plan  he  had  long  urged  upon  his  predeces- 
sor. The  boats  were  unloaded  on  their  return  from  Mackinac 
to  Chicago,  and  scuttled  in  the  swamp  to  insure  their  safety 
until  they  should  be  needed  for  the  return  voyage  to  Mackinac 
laden  with  furs  the  following  spring.  The  goods  and  furs  were 
transported  between  Chicago  and  the  Indian  hunting-grounds 
on  pack  horses.  Thus  "the  long,  tedious,  and  difficult  passage" 
through  Mud  Lake  into  and  down  the  Des  Plaines  was  avoided. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  chief  factor  in  determining  the 
character  and  length  of  the  Chicago  Portage  was  the  Des  Plaines 
River,  and  that  during  a  large  part  of  the  year  the  portage  that 
must  be  made  extended  much  farther  than  simply  from  the 
Chicago  to  the  Des  Plaines.  Schoolcraft  and  Cass  in  1821 
were  compelled  to  abandon  their  canoe  at  Starved  Rock,  almost 

» Ibid. 


16  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

one  hundred  miles  from  Chicago.  The  traders  whom  they 
met  in  the  course  of  their  horseback  journey  were  apparently 
planning  to  put  their  boats  into  the  DesPlaines  at  Mount 
Joliet,  after  a  portage  of  thirty  miles.  Whether,  in  view  of 
Schoolcraft's  own  experience,  they  succeeded  in  entering  the 
river  at  this  point  may  well  be  doubted.  The  transcript  of 
names  from  the  account  books  kept  by  John  Kinzie  at  Chicago32 
contains  several  entries  of  charges  for  assisting  traders  over  the 
portage;  some  of  these  show  that  the  portage  was  made  from 
Mount  Joliet,  while  one,  in  June,  1806,  shows  that  it  extended  to 
the  "forks"  of  the  Illinois.  Tanner's  experience  presents  the 
extreme  example,  if  his  statement  of  distances  can  be  relied  on, 
of  a  portage  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles.33  The  varying 
length  of  the  portage  necessary  at  different  seasons  is  well 
described  in  an  official  report  made  in  1819  by  Graham  and 
Phillips.34  At  one  season  there  is  an  uninterrupted  water  com- 
munication between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi;  at 
another  season  a  portage  of  two  miles;  at  another  a  portage  of 
seven  miles,  from  the  Chicago  River  to  the  Des  Plaines;  and  at 
still  another,  a  portage  of  fifty  miles,  extending  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Des  Plaines. 

These  fluctuations  in  the  state  of  the  Des  Plaines  and  in  the 
length  of  the  portage  influenced  materially  the  plans  of  the 
traders  and  travelers  who  had  occasion  to  traverse  this  route. 
For  obvious  reasons  in  times  when  the  Des  Plaines  was  known 
to  be  low  and  the  portage  correspondingly  long  the  Chicago 
route  would  be  avoided  if  practicable.  Thus  Charlevoix  pre- 
ferred the  Kankakee  to  it  in  1721.  A  hundred  years  later,  the 
Indians  who  had  set  out  with  Tanner  upon  learning  of  the  low 
stage  of  the  water  in  the  Illinois,  abandoned  the  journey  and 

11  Barry,  Rev.  Win.,  Transcript  of  Names  in  John  Kinzie's  Account  Books,  MS  in  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society  library.  This  will  be  cited  henceforth  as  the  Barry  Transcript. 

"  If,  as  suggested  above,  the  Yellow  Ochre  was  the  same  stream  as  the  Vermilion 
River,  the  distance  from  Chicago  to  its  mouth  was  about  one  hundred  miles. 

"  Stale  Papers,  Doc.  No.  17,  i6th  Congress,  ist  Sess.  Senator  Benton  claimed  in  1847 
that  he  had  written  this  report  from  data  supplied  him  by  Graham  and  Phillips  (Niles' 
Register,  LXXII,  309). 


THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE  17 

returned  to  their  homes.  St.  Cosme's  party  in  1698  sought  to 
reach  the  Illinois  from  Lake  Michigan  by  the  Root  and  Fox 
rivers,  desisting  from  the  effort  only  under  the  belief  that  this 
would  necessitate  a  portage  of  forty  leagues.  Compelled  to 
follow  the  Chicago  route,  the  prospect  of  the  long  and  difficult 
passage  down  the  Des  Plaines  to  navigable  water  on  the  Illinois 
induced  them  to  leave  all  of  their  goods  but  one  boat-load  at 
Chicago  in  charge  of  a  member  of  the  party.  This  made  neces- 
sary a  return  from  the  lower  Mississippi  for  them  the  following 
spring,  but  even  this  was  preferred  to  the  arduous  undertaking  of 
transporting  them  over  the  long  portage  at  Chicago  in  the  dry 
season. 

More  significant,  perhaps,  is  the  fact  that  those  who  had 
occasion  to  cross  the  Chicago  Portage,  and  were  informed  con- 
cerning the  seasonal  fluctuations  of  the  Des  Plaines,  planned 
their  business  so  as  to  take  advantage,  as  far  as  possible,  of  the 
seasons  of  high  water.  Colonel  Kingsbury,  who  in  1805  con- 
ducted a  company  of  soldiers  from  Mackinac  to  the  Mississippi 
by  way  of  the  Illinois  River  to  establish  Fort  Belle  Fontaine, 
was  ordered  to  proceed  to  Chicago  with  them  on  the  first  vessel 
in  the  spring.35  The  Illinois  River  traders  in  the  employ  of  the 
American  Fur  Company  in  the  period  from  1818  to  1824  so 
planned  their  business  as  to  bring  their  boats  laden  with  furs 
up  the  Des  Plaines  in  the  season  of  the  spring  flood. 

La  Salle  had  early  contended  that  it  was  more  feasible  to 
transport  goods  between  Chicago  and  Starved  Rock  with  horses 
than  by  boats  on  the  river.  There  arose  very  early  a  demand 
for  another  means  of  transportation  between  the  two  places  at 
such  times  as  the  use  of  the  Des  Plaines  in  boats  was  impracti- 
cable, whether  from  excess  or  from  deficiency  of  water.  Lahontan 

"  Gushing  to  Lieutenant-colonel  Kingsbury,  February  20,  1805.  This  letter  belongs 
to  the  collection  of  letter  books,  letters,  and  other  papers  of  Jacob  Kingsbury  in  the  Chicago 
Historical  Society  library.  Kingsbury  was  in  command  of  Detroit,  Mackinac,  and  other 
northwestern  posts  from  1804  on,  and  for  a  time  was  the  superior  authority  in  charge  of  a 
group  of  posts  including  Fort  Wayne,  Fort  Dearborn,  Mackinac,  and  Detroit.  His  letters 
and  papers  constitute  a  source  of  prime  importance  for  this  period  of  northwestern  history. 
They  will  be  cited  henceforth  as  the  Kingsbury  Papers. 


1 8  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

represents,  in  his  famous  narrative  of  his  Long  River  expedi- 
tion,36 that  he  returned  by  way  of  the  Illinois  River  and  Chicago 
Portage.  To  lessen  the  drudgery  of  "a  great  land  carriage  of 
twelve  great  leagues,"  he  engaged  four  hundred  Indians  to 
transport  his  baggage  from  the  Illinois  village  to  Lake  Michigan, 
"which  they  did  in  the  space  of  four  days."  Historians  have 
long  agreed  in  denouncing  the  pretended  Long  River  discovery 
as  fraudulent,  but  there  is  nothing  improbable  about  the  state- 
ment of  the  necessity  of  a  land  carriage  of  twelve  great  leagues 
at  the  Chicago  Portage. 

Whether  Lahontan  ever  in  fact  employed  four  hundred 
Indians  to  transport  his  baggage  over  the  Chicago  Portage 
may  well  be  doubted;  but  that  other  travelers  employed  Indians 
in  a  similar  capacity  is  certain.  The  companions  of  Cavelier, 
La  Salle's  brother,  who  passed  from  Fort  St.  Louis  to  Lake 
Michigan  in  September,  1687,  employed  a  dozen  Shawnee  Indians 
to  carry  their  goods  to  the  lake,  because  there  was  no  water  in 
the  river  at  this  season  of  the  year.37  Unable  to  make  their  way 
from  Chicago  to  Mackinac  they  returned  to  the  fort  to  pass  the 
winter.  In  this  same  autumn  of  1687,  some  Frenchmen  en  route 
from  Montreal  to  Fort  St.  Louis  with  three  canoes  loaded  with 
merchandise  and  ammunition  were  halted  at  Chicago  on  account 
of  lack  of  water  in  the  Des  Plaines.38  Upon  information  of  this 
being  brought  to  Tonty  he  engaged  the  services  of  forty  Shawnee 
Indians,  women  and  men,  by  whom  the  goods  were  transported 
to  the  fort. 

When  horses  were  first  employed  on  the  Chicago  Portage  can- 
not, of  course,  be  stated.  We  have  seen  that  La  Salle  advocated 
their  employment,  but  he  himself  was  never  in  a  position  to  use 
them.  That  such  use  began  very  early,  however,  is  indicated 
by  a  tradition  preserved  by  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard  of  an  adventure 
of  a  trader  named  Cerre  on  the  Des  Plaines.39  The  Indians 
sought  to  force  him  to  pay  toll  to  them,  but  he  defied  them; 

*  Lahontan,  Voyages,  I,  167  ff. 

"  Joutel's  Journal,  in  Margry,  III,  482,  484. 

-  Ibid.,  497.  »  Hubbard,  Life,  41-43. 


THE  CHICAGO  PORTAGE  19 

the  controversy  ended  happily,  however,  and  the  Indians  trans- 
ported Cerre's  goods  on  their  pack  horses  from  Cache  Island 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Plaines.  The  date  of  this  incident  is 
not  recorded,  but  Cerre  first  came  into  the  Illinois  country  in 
1756.  If  the  Indians  were  accustomed  thus  early  to  use  pack 
horses  to  transport  the  goods  of  travelers  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  practice  may  have  originated  long  before. 

The  demand  for  transportation  facilities  at  the  portage  was 
thus  coeval  with  the  advent  of  the  French  in  this  region.  In 
the  early  nineteenth  century  the  satisfaction  of  this  demand 
afforded  employment  and  a  livelihood  to  some  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Chicago.  The  transporting  of  travelers  and  their  baggage 
across  the  portage  formed  part  of  the  business  of  John  Kinzie. 
That  it  was  Ouilmette's  principal  occupation,  at  least  for  a  con- 
siderable period,  seems  probable.40  Major  Stoddard  stated  in 
1812  concerning  the  Chicago  Portage  that  in  the  dry  season 
boats  and  their  cargoes  were  transported  across  it  by  teams  kept 
at  Chicago  for  this  purpose.41  Several  years  later  Graham  and 
Phillips  reported  that  there  was  a  well-beaten  road  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Des  Plaines  to  the  lake,  over  which  boats  and 
their  loads  were  hauled  by  oxen  and  vehicles  kept  for  this  purpose 
by  the  French  settlers  at  Chicago.42  Schoolcraft  and  Cass 
procured  horses  to  convey  them  to  Chicago  from  the  point 
near  Starved  Rock  where  they  abandoned  their  canoe.  John 
Tanner's  narrative  shows  that  the  Frenchman  who  carried  him 
a  distance  of  sixty  miles  from  Chicago  to  the  Illinois  River  in  the 
preceding  year  was  commonly  engaged  in  this  business.  Prob- 
ably this  man  was  Ouilmette,  although  Tanner  does  not  give  his 
name.  If  it  was  someone  other  than  Ouilmette,  it  is  evident 
that  at  least  two  Chicago  residents  were  engaged  in  this  business. 

The  project  of  Joliet  of  a  canal  to  connect  Lake  Michigan 
with  the  Illinois  River  was  revived  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century.  After  numerous  investigations  and  reports  had  been 

"  See  Post,  pp.  143-44;   Tanner's  Narrative,  257;  Barry  Transcript. 
41  Stoddard,  Sketches,  Historical  and  Descriptive,  of  Louisiana,  368  S. 
*  State  Papers,  Doc.  No.  17,  i6th  Congress,  ist  Sess. 


20  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

made,  the  work  of  construction  was  at  last  begun,  amid  great  en- 
thusiasm, in  the  year  1836.  Twelve  years  later  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal  was  completed,  and  therewith  the  Chicago 
Portage  ceased  to  be.  Even  without  the  construction  of  the 
canal  its  old  importance  and  use  were  about  to  terminate. 
The  advance  of  white  settlement  sounded  the  death  knell  of  the 
fur  trade.  With  the  advent  of  the  railroad,  trade  and  commerce 
sought  other  channels  and  another  means  of  transportation. 
The  waterways  lost  their  old  importance  and  the  Chicago 
Portage  passed  into  history.  Ere  this  time,  however,  the  New 
Chicago  had  been  born  and  her  future,  with  its  marvelous  possi- 
bilities, was  secure. 


CHAPTER  H 

CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

It  seems  quite  probable  that  Chicago  was  an  important 
meeting-place  for  Indian  travelers  long  before  the  first  white 
men  came  to  the  foot  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  portage  of  the 
Indian  preceded  the  canoe  of  the  white  man,  and  the  Indian 
trail  was  the  forerunner  of  the  white  man's  road.  Who  the 
first  white  visitor  to  Chicago  was  cannot  be  stated  with  cer- 
tainty. The  chief  incentive  to  the  exploration  of  the  North- 
west was  the  prosecution  of  the  fur  trade,  and  it  is  probable 
that  wandering  coureurs  de  bois  had  visited  this  region  in 
advance  of  any  of  the  explorers  who  have  left  us  records  of 
their  travels.  Coming  to  the  domain  of  recorded  history  we 
encounter,  on  the  threshold  as  it  were,  the  master  dreamer  and 
empire  builder,  La  Salle. 

Already  interested  in  the  subject  of  western  exploration,  in 
the  summer  of  1669  he  set  out  from  his  estate  of  Lachine  in  search 
of  a  river  which  flowed  to  the  western  sea.43  His  course  to  the 
western  end  of  Lake  Ontario  is  known  to  us,  but  from  this  point 
his  movements  for  the  next  two  years  are  involved  in  mist  and 
obscurity.  It  is  believed  by  some  that  he  descended  the  Ohio 
to  the  Mississippi  in  1670,  and  that  the  following  year  he  trav- 
ersed Lake  Michigan  from  north  to  south,  crossed  the  Chicago 
Portage,  and  descended  the  Illinois  River  till  he  again  reached 
the  Mississippi.  But  the  claim  that  he  reached  the  Mississippi 
during  these  years  is  rejected  by  most  historians.  Probably 
the  exact  facts  as  to  his  movements  at  this  time  will  never 
be  known.  We  are  here  interested,  however,  primarily  in 
the  question  whether  he  came  to  the  site  of  Chicago.  Even 
this  cannot  be  stated  with  certainty,  but  the  preponderance  of 

"  For  this  expedition  and  the  subsequent  movements  of  La  Salle  see  Winsor,  Carter 
to  Frontenac;  Parkman,  La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great  West;  Winsor,  Narrative  and 
Critical  History,  IV,  201  ff. 

21 


22  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

opinion  among  those  best  qualified  to  judge  is  that  he  probably 
did.44 

The  pages  of  history  might  be  scanned  in  vain  for  a  more 
fitting  character  with  which  to  begin  the  annals  of  the  great 
city  of  today.  La  Salle  is  noted,  even  as  it  is  noted,  for  bound- 
less energy,  lofty  aspiration,  and  daring  enterprise.  He  com- 
bined the  capacity  to  dream  with  the  resolution  to  make  his 
visions  real.  "He  was  the  real  discoverer  of  the  Great  West, 
for  he  planned  its  occupation  and  began  its  settlement;  and  he 
alone  of  the  men  of  his  time  appreciated  its  boundless  possi- 
bilities, and  with  prophetic  eye  saw  in  the  future  its  wide  area 
peopled  by  his  own  race."45 

In  strong  contrast  with  the  masterful  La  Salle  succeeds,  in 
the  early  annals  of  Chicago,  the  gentle,  saintly  Marquette. 
For  a  number  of  years  vague  and  indefinite  reports  had  been 
carried  to  Canada  of  the  existence,  to  the  west  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  of  a  "great  river"  flowing  westwardly  to  the  Vermillion 
Sea,  as  the  Gulf  of  California  was  then  known.  These  reports 
roused  in  the  French  the  hope  of  finding  an  easy  way  to  the 
South  Sea,  and  thence  to  the  golden  commerce  of  the  Indies. 

Spurred  on  by  the  home  government  Talon,  the  intendant 
of  Canada,  took  up  the  project  of  solving  the  problem  of  the 
great  western  river.46  It  chanced  that  for  several  years  Mar- 
quette, a  Jesuit  missionary,  had  been  stationed  on  the  shore 
of  Lake  Superior.  Here  he  heard  from  his  dusky  charges 
stories  of  the  great  river  and  of  the  pleasant  country  to  the 
westward.  In  consequence  he  became  imbued  with  the  double 
ambition  of  solving  the  geographical  question  of  the  ultimate 
direction  of  the  river's  flow,  and  of  seeking  in  this  new  region  a 
more  fruitful  field  of  labor.47  In  the  summer  of  1672  Talon 

44  Margry  was  convinced  of  this  and  Parkman  thought  it  entirely  probable.    Winsor 
thought  that  La  Salle  came  to  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,  but  was  in  doubt  whether  he 
entered  the  Chicago  River  or  the  St.  Joseph.     Shea,  who  constantly  belittles  La  Salle's 
achievements,  believed  he  "reached  the  Illinois  or  some  other  affluent  of  the  Mississippi." 
See  the  references  given  in  note  43. 

45  Edward  G.  Mason,   "Early  Visitors  to  Chicago,"  in  New  England  Magazine,  New 
Ser.,  VI,  180, 

*  Winsor,  Carrier  to  Frontenac,  231.  "  Ibid.,  199-201. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  23 

appointed  Louis  Joliet,  a  young  Canadian  who  had  already 
achieved  something  of  a  reputation  as  an  explorer,  to  carry  out 
the  new  task,  and  the  projected  exploration  of  the  great  river 
was  launched.  Joliet  proceeded  that  autumn  to  Mackinac — 
the  Michilimackinac  of  the  French  period — where  he  spent  the 
winter  preparing  for  the  enterprise.  Hither  Marquette  had 
come  two  years  before,  and  here  he  had  established  the  mission 
of  St.  Ignace.  Proximity  and  a  common  interest  in  the  projected 
enterprise  combined  to  draw  the  two  together;  so  that  when  the 
expedition  set  out  from  Mackinac  in  May,  1673, tne  party  was 
composed  of  Joliet,  Marquette,  and  five  companions.  Though 
Joliet  was  the  official  head  of  the  expedition,  it  has  come  about, 
through  the  circumstance  that  his  records  were  lost  almost  at 
the  end  of  his  toilsome  journey,  that  we  are  chiefly  indebted  to 
the  journal  of  Marquette  for  our  knowledge  of  it,  and  have  come 
insensibly  to  ascribe  the  credit  for  it  to  him.- 

From  Mackinac  the  party  passed,  in  two  canoes,  to  the  head 
of  Green  Bay,  and  thence  by  way  of  the  Fox- Wisconsin  River 
route  to  the  Mississippi,  which  was  reached  a  month  after  the 
departure  from  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace.48  Down  its  broad 
current  the  voyagers  paddled  and  floated  for  another  month. 
Arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  they  were  told  by  the 
natives  that  the  sea  was  distant  but  ten  days'  journey,  and  that 
the  intervening  region  was  inhabited  by  warlike  tribes,  equipped 
with  firearms,  and  hostile  to  their  entertainers.  This  informa- 
tion led  the  explorers  to  take  counsel  concerning  their  further 
course.  Deeming  it  established  beyond  doubt  that  the  river 
emptied  into  "the  Florida  or  Mexican  Gulf,"  and  fearful  of 
losing  the  fruits  of  their  discovery  by  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  Spaniards,  they  decided  to  turn  about  and  begin  the  home- 
ward journey. 

On  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  they  learned  that  they 
could  shorten  their  return  to  Mackinac  by  passing  up  that  river. 
A  pleasing  picture  is  drawn  by  Marquette  of  the  country  through 

"Marquette's  Journal  of  the  expedition  is  printed  in  Jesuit  Relations,  Vol.  LIX. 
For  standard  secondary  accounts  see  the  works  of  Parkman  and  Winsor. 


24  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

which  this  new  route  led  them.  They  had  seen  nothing  com- 
parable to  it  for  fertility  of  soil,  for  prairies,  woods,  "cattle," 
and  other  game.  The  Indians  received  them  kindly,  and  obliged 
Marquette  to  promise  that  he  would  return  to  instruct  them. 
Under  the  guidance  of  an  Indian  escort  the  voyagers  passed, 
probably  by  way  of  the  Chicago  Portage  and  River,49  to  Lake 
Michigan,  whence  they  made  their  way  to  Green  Bay  by  the 
end  of  September. 

The  following  year  Joliet  continued  on  his  way  to  Quebec 
to  report  to  Count  Frontenac  the  results  of  his  expedition. 
Marquette  remained  at  Green  Bay,  worn  down  by  the  illness 
that  was  shortly  to  terminate  his  career.  In  the  autumn  of 
1674,  the  disease  having  temporarily  abated,  he  undertook  the 
fulfilment  of  his  promise  to  the  Illinois  Indians  to  return  and 
establish  a  mission  among  them.  Late  in  October  he  began  the 
journey,50  accompanied  by  two  voyageurs,  Pierre  Porteret  and 
Jacques,  one  of  whom  had  been  a  member  of  the  earlier  expedi- 
tion. The  little  party  was  soon  increased  by  the  addition  of  a 
number  of  Indians,  and  all  together  made  their  way  down  Green 
Bay  and  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  to  the  mouth  of 
the  "river  of  the  portage" — the  Chicago.  Over  a  month  had 
been  consumed  in  the  journey,  owing  to  frequent  delays  caused 
by  the  stormy  lake.  The  river  was  frozen  to  the  depth  of  half 
a  foot  and  snow  was  plentiful.  Ten  days  were  passed  here,  when, 
Marquette's  malady  having  returned,  a  camp  was  made  two 
leagues  up  the  river,  close  to  the  portage,  and  it  was  decided  to 
spend  the  winter  there.  Thus  began  in  December,  1674,  the 
first  extended  sojourn,  so  far  as  we  have  record,  of  white  men  on 
the  site  of  the  future  Chicago.  There  has  been  much  loose 
writing  concerning  the  character  of  their  habitation.  Even 

"  It  was  the  contention  of  Albert  D.  Hagar,  a  former  secretary  of  the  Chicago  His- 
torical Society,  that  on  both  this  expedition  and  that  of  1675  Marquette  passed  from  the 
Des  Plaines  River  to  Lake  Michigan  by  way  of  the  Calumet  Portage  and  River.  (Andreas, 
History  of  Chicago,  I,  46.)  The  evidence,  however,  seems  to  me  to  point  to  the  route  by 
way  of  the  Chicago  Portage  and  River.  Hagar's  argument  is  refuted  by  Hurlbut  in  Chicago 
Antiquities,  384-88. 

"  For  Marquette's  Journal  of  this  expedition  see  Jesuit  Relations,  Vol.  LIX.  Parkman 
and  Winsor  have  written  standard  secondary  accounts. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  25 

Parkman  states  that  they  constructed  a  "log  hut,"  and  other 
writers  have  made  similar  assertions.  There  is  no  warrant  for 
this  in  the  original  documents,  and  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  combine  to  render  it  improbable.51  Marquette  was  too 
sick  to  travel,  and  he  had  but  two  companions  to  assist  him. 
They  made  two  camps,  one  at  the  entrance  of  the  river,  and 
the  other,  a  few  days  later,  at  the  portage.  It  was  already  the 
dead  of  winter,  and  they  could  not  have  been  equipped  with 
heavy  tools.  It  seems  entirely  probable  that  in  place  of  a 
"log  hut"  they  constructed  the  customary  Indian  shelter  or 
wigwam.52 

Marquette  found  that  two  Frenchmen  had  preceded  him  in 
establishing  themselves  in  the  Illinois  country.  He  designates 
them  as  "La  Taupine  and  the  surgeon,"  and  says  that  they  were 
stationed  eighteen  leagues  below  Chicago,  "in  a  fine  place  for 
hunting  cattle,  deer,  and  turkeys."53  They  were  supplied  with 
corn  and  other  provisions,  and  were  engaged  in  the  fur  trade. 
Apparently  their  location  was  selected  either  because  it  was 
"a  fine  place  for  hunting,"  or  else  because  of  its  advantages  as  a 
trading  station,  for  it  is  evident  from  the  narrative  that  they 
were  in  close  proximity  to  the  Indians. 

Who  were  these  French  pioneers  of  the  upper  Illinois  Valley  ? 
We  know  concerning  La  Taupine — the  mole — that  he  was  a 
noted  fur  trader  whose  real  name  was  Pierre  Moreau;54  that 
he  was  an  adherent  of  Count  Frontenac,  the  governor  of  New 

51  The  French  word  used  by  Marquette,  cabannez,  was  commonly  employed,  whether 
as  a  verb  or  a  noun,  to  designate  the  ordinary  temporary  encampment  of  travelers  and  the 
wigwam  of  the  Indian.  In  Marquette's  Journal  of  his  first  expedition  (Jesuit  Relations, 
LIX,  146),  the  word  is  used  to  designate  the  cover  of  sailcloth  erected  over  the  voyagers' 
canoes  to  protect  them  from  the  mosquitoes  and  the  sun  while  floating  down  the  Mississippi. 
Later,  on  the  second  expedition,  when  Marquette,  hastening  along  the  eastern  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan  toward  Mackinac,  found  himself  at  the  point  of  death,  his  companions  hastily 
landed  and  constructed  a  "wretched  cabin  of  bark"  to  lay  him  in  (ibid.,  194).  Numerous 
other  instances  of  the  habitual  use  of  the  word  to  indicate  a  temporary  camp  might  easily 
be  cited. 

51  For  a  further  development  of  this  subject  see  H.  H.  Hurlbut's  pamphlet,  Father 
Marquette  at  Mackinac  and  Chicago,  13-14. 

"Jesuit  Relations,  LIX,  174-76. 

"Ibid.,  314;  Mason,  "Early  Visitors  to  Chicago,"  cited  in  note  45. 


26  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

France;  and  that  he  was  accused  by  the  intendant  with  being 
one  of  the  Governor's  agents  in  the  prosecution  of  an  illicit 
trade  with  the  Indians.  He  had  been  with  St.  Lusson  at  the 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  in  1671,  and  doubtless  was  possessed  of  all  the 
information  current  among  the  French  concerning  the  region 
beyond  the  Great  Lakes.  In  what  year  he  pushed  out  into 
this  region  and  established  the  first  habitation  and  business  of 
a  white  man  in  northern  Illinois  will  probably  forever  remain 
unknown. 

The  little  that  Marquette  tells  us  of  the  companion  of  La 
Taupine  serves  only  to  whet  our  curiosity.  Though  these  first 
residents  were  lawbreakers,  they  were  not  without  redeeming 
qualities.  In  anticipation,  apparently,  of  Marquette's  arrival 
at  their  station  they  had  made  preparations  to  receive  him,  and 
had  told  the  savages  "that  their  cabin  belonged  to  the  black 
robe."55  As  soon  as  they  learned  of  the  priest's  illness  at  Chicago 
the  surgeon  came,  in  spite  of  snow  and  bitter  cold,56  a  distance 
of  fifty  miles  to  bring  him  some  corn  and  blueberries.  Mar- 
quette sent  Jacques  back  with  the  surgeon  to  bear  a  message  to 
the  Indians  who  lived  in  his  vicinity,  and  the  traders  loaded 
him,  on  his  return,  with  corn  and  "other  delicacies"  for  the 
sick  priest.  Furthermore,  the  surgeon  was  a  devout  man,  for 
he  spent  some  time  with  Marquette  in  order  to  perform  his 
devotions.  Clearly  here  is  a  character  who  improves  with 
closer  acquaintance.  But  such  acquaintance  is  denied  us.  As 
a  ship  passing  in  the  night  the  surgeon  flashes  across  Chicago's 
early  horizon;  whence  he  came,  whither  he  went,  even  his  name 
will  doubtless  remain  forever  a  mystery. 

Meanwhile,  how  fared  the  winter  with  the  three  Frenchmen 
in  their  primitive  camp  near  the  portage  ?  The  picture  of  their 
life  as  painted  in  the  pages  of  Marquette's  Journal  is  not,  on  the 
whole,  unattractive.  The  fraternal  spirit  manifested  for  them 
by  the  traders  has  already  been  noted.  The  Indians  were 

ss  Jesuit  Relations,  LIX,  176. 

56  The  Journal  records  that  the  Indians  were  suffering  from  hunger  because  the  cold 
and  snow  prevented  them  from  hunting. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  27 

equally  friendly.  When  those  living  in  a  village  six  leagues 
away  learned  of  Marquette's  plight,  they  were  so  solicitous  for 
his  welfare,  and  so  fearful  that  he  would  suffer  from  hunger, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  cold,  Jacques  had  much  difficulty 
in  preventing  the  young  men  from  coming  to  the  portage  to 
carry  away  to  their  village  all  Marquette's  belongings. 

The  Indians'  fears,  however,  proved  groundless.  Deer  and 
buffalo  abounded,  partridges,  much  like  those  of  France,  were 
killed,  and  turkeys  swarmed  around  the  camp.  The  traders 
sent  corn  and  blueberries,  and  the  Indians  brought  corn,  dried 
meat,  and  pumpkins.  The  severe  whiter  produced  its  effect 
upon  the  game,  some  of  the  deer  that  were  killed  being  so  lean 
as  to  be  worthless.  But  "the  Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate," 
Marquette's  celestial  queen,  took  such  care  of  them  that  there 
was  no  lack  of  provisions,  and  when  the  camp  was  broken  up 
in  the  spring  there  was  still  on  hand  a  large  sack  of  corn  and  a 
supply  of  meat. 

An  intense  spirit  of  religious  devotion  animated  Marquette 
throughout  the  winter.  It  was  his  zeal  in  the  service  of  his 
Heavenly  Master  that  had  led  him,  in  his  illness,  to  brave  the 
rigors  of  a  winter  in  the  wilderness.  Despite  his  bodily  afflic- 
tion, the  observance  of  religious  exercises  was  maintained. 
Mass  was  said  every  day  throughout  the  winter,  but  they  were 
able  to  observe  Lent  only  on  Fridays  and  Saturdays.  On 
December  15  the  mass  of  the  Conception  was  celebrated.  Early 
in  February  a  novena,  or  nine  days'  devotion  to  the  Virgin,  was 
begun,  to  ask  God  for  the  restoration  of  Marquette's  health. 
Shortly  afterward  his  condition  improved,  in  consequence,  as 
he  believed,  of  these  devotions.  An  opportunity  to  give  his 
religion  a  practical  application  was  afforded  him  in  the  latter 
part  of  January.  A  deputation  of  Illinois  Indians  came  bring- 
ing presents,  in  return  for  which  they  requested,  among  other 
things,  a  supply  of  powder.  Marquette  refused  this,  saying 
he  had  come  to  instruct  them  and  to  restore  peace,  and 
did  not  wish  them  to  begin  a  war  with  their  neighbors,  the 
Miamis. 


28  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Toward  the  end  of  March  the  ice  began  to  thaw,  but  on 
breaking  up  it  formed  a  gorge,  causing  a  rapid  rise  in  the  river. 
The  camping-place  was  suddenly  flooded,  the  occupants  having 
barely  time  enough  to  secure  their  goods  upon  the  trees.  They 
themselves  spent  the  night  on  a  hillock,  with  the  water  steadily 
gaining  upon  them.  The  following  day  the  gorge  dissolved, 
the  ice  drifted  away,  and  the  travelers  prepared  to  resume  their 
journey  to  the  village  of  the  Illinois. 

Eleven  days  were  consumed  in  this  journey,  during  which 
Marquette  suffered  much  from  illness  and  exposure.57  Accord- 
ing to  Father  Dablon  he  was  received  by  the  Indians  "as  an 
angel  from  Heaven."  He  preached  to  them  and  established 
his  mission,  and  then,  feeling  the  hand  of  death  upon  him, 
began  his  return  journey  to  the  distant  mission  of  St.  Ignace. 

And  now  we  come  to  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  next 
scene  in  the  annals  of  Chicago.  A  crowd  of  the  Illinois  accom- 
panied Marquette,  as  a  mark  of  honor,  for  more  than  thirty 
leagues,  vying  with  each  other  in  taking  charge  of  his  slender 
baggage.  Then,  "filled  with  great  esteem  for  the  gospel," 
they  took  leave  of  him,  and  continuing  his  journey  he  shortly 
afterward  reached  Lake  Michigan.58  The  route  followed  from 
this  point  was  by  way  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake.  But  the 
missionary's  life  was  to  terminate  sooner  than  the  voyage. 
On  May  19  he  died,  on  the  lonely  shore  of  the  lake,  and  was 

"  Marquette's  Journal  ends  abruptly  at  this  point,  his  last  entry  being  made  on  April 
6  while  the  little  party  was  waiting  at  the  Des  Plaines  River  for  the  subsidence  of  the  ice 
and  the  cold  winds  to  permit  them  to  descend.  For  the  remainder  of  the  story  we  are 
indebted  to  the  narrative  of  Father  Dablon,  Marquette's  superior,  whose  information  was 
derived  from  the  two  companions  of  Marquette.  Dablon's  narrative  is  printed  in  Jesuit 
Relations,  Vol.  LIX. 

58  The  route  followed  by  Marquette  and  his  escort  from  the  Illinois  village  to  Lake 
Michigan  is  not  certainly  known.  From  the  fact  that  after  reaching  the  lake  Marquette 
sought  to  reach  Mackinac  by  following  around  its  eastern  shore,  it  has  been  argued  that 
he  ascended  the  Rankakee  to  reach  Lake  Michigan.  The  evidence  seems  to  me,  however, 
to  favor  the  route  by  the  Des  Plaines  and  Chicago.  Marquette  had  gone  this  way  on  the 
return  from  his  first  expedition,  and  had  returned  to  the  Illinois  the  same  way.  If  he  now 
followed  this  route,  the  thirty  leagues  which  the  Indians  accompanied  him  would  have 
brought  them  to  the  vicinity  of  the  portage  between  the  Des  Plaines  and  the  Chicago. 
In  the  period  when  travel  was  chiefly  by  water  portages  were  natural  meeting  (and  parting) 
places.  The  one  argument  in  support  of  the  Kankakee  route  is  the  fact  that  the  further 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  29 

buried  near  the  mouth  of  a  small  river  in  the  state  of  Michigan 
which  was  long  to  bear  his  name. 

A  successor  to  Marquette  at  the  mission  of  the  Illinois  was 
found  in  the  person  of  Father  Claude  Allouez,  who  was  then 
stationed  at  the  mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  at  Green  Bay. 
In  October,  1676,  with  two  companions  he  set  out  in  a  canoe 
for  his  new  field  of  work.59  The  winter  closed  down  early, 
however,  and  before  they  had  proceeded  far  they  were  compelled 
to  lie  over  until  February  with  some  Pottawatomie  Indians. 
Then  they  proceeded  once  more,  in  a  way  "very  extraordinary"; 
for  instead  of  putting  the  canoe  into  the  water,  they  placed  it 
upon  the  ice,  over  which  a  sail  and  a  favoring  wind  "made  it 
go  as  on  the  water."  When  the  wind  failed  they  drew  it  along 
by  means  of  ropes.  New  obstacles  to  their  progress  arose, 
however,  so  that  not  until  April  did  they  enter  "the  river  which 
leads  to  the  Illinois."  ,  At  its  entrance  they  were  met  by  a  band 
of  eighty  Illinois  Indians  who  had  come  from  their  village  to 
welcome  Allouez.  The  ceremony  of  reception  which  ensued 
may  well  be  set  forth  in  the  words  of  the  missionary  himself, 
in  whose  honor  it  was  staged. 

"The  captain  came  about  30  steps  to  meet  me,  carrying  in 
one  hand  a  firebrand  and  in  the  other  a  Calumet  adorned  with 
feathers.  Approaching  me,  he  placed  it  in  my  mouth  and 
himself  lighted  the  tobacco,  which  obliged  me  to  make  a  pre- 
tense of  smoking  it.  Then  he  made  me  come  into  his  Cabin, 
and  having  given  me  the  place  of  honor,  he  spoke  to  me  as  follows : 

'My  Father,  have  pity  on  me;  suffer  me  to  return  with  thee, 
to  bear  thee  company  and  take  thee  into  my  village.  The  meet- 
ing I  have  had  today  with  thee  will  prove  fatal  to  me  if  I  do  not 

route  of  the  party  was  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake.  But  this  fact  does  not  obviate 
the  possibility  of  a  return  to  the  lake  by  the  Des  Plaines  and  Chicago.  Furthermore,  by 
the  Kankakee  route  from  the  point  where  the  Indians  turned  back  Marquette  would  still 
have  to  travel  upward  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  reach  the  lake.  Yet  the  narrative 
states  that  he  reached  it  "shortly  after"  they  left  him — a  statement  which  harmonizes 
with  the  supposition  that  the  leave-taking  occurred  at  or  near  the  Chicago  Portage.  For 
these  reasons  I  have  chosen  to  consider  this  an  event  in  early  Chicago  history. 

"The  narrative  of  Allouez  is  printed  in  Jesuit  Relations,  Vol.  LX.  The  quotations 
from  it  which  follow  are  from  the  Thwaites  translation  there  given. 


30  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

use  it  to  my  advantage.  Thou  bearest  to  us  the  gospel  and  the 
prayer.  If  I  lose  the  opportunity  of  listening  to  thee,  I  shall 
be  punished  by  the  loss  of  my  nephews,  whom  thou  seest  in  so 
great  number;  without  doubt,  they  will  be  defeated  by  our 
enemies.  Let  us  embark,  then,  in  company,  that  I  may  profit 
by  thy  coming  into  our  land.'" 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  exact  words  of  the  "  Captain" 
have  been  preserved,  though  it  may  well  be  that  the  general 
tenor  of  his  remarks  is  here  set  forth.  The  speech  concluded, 
they  set  out  together,  and  "shortly  after"  arrived  at  the  Chief's 
abode.  We  have  no  clue,  further  than  this,  to  the  location  of 
the  Indian  camp.  Probably  it  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the  portage ; 
for  aside  from  the  fact  that  this  furnished  a  logical  stopping- 
place  Marquette  tells  us  that  during  his  sojourn  here,  two  years 
before,  Indians  were  encamped  in  his  vicinity  during  a  portion 
of  the  winter. 

After  a  brief  stay  among  the  Indians  on  the  Illinois,  where 
his  labors  met  with  great  success,  Allouez  left  them,  returning 
again  the  next  year.  We  have  no  details  of  these  journeys,  how- 
ever, and  our  next  account  of  the  presence  of  white  men  in  this 
region  involves  us  in  the  schemes  and  deeds  of  the  masterful 
La  Salle. 

La  Salle  conceived  the  ambitious  design  of  leading  France 
and  civilization  together  into  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.60 
But  vast  obstacles  interposed  to  hinder  him  in  its  execution. 
Canada  must  be  his  base  of  operations,  and  Canada  abounded 
in  hostile  traders  and  priests  who  jealously  sought  to  checkmate 
him  at  every  opportunity.  The  initiation  of  his  design  involved 
the  establishment  of  a  colony  in  the  Illinois  country.  In  1678 
he  sent  out  in  advance  a  party  of  men  to  engage  in  trade  for  him 
and  ultimately  to  go  to  the  Illinois  country  and  prepare  for  his 
coming.  Meanwhile  he  himself  was  busied  with  further  prepa- 
rations for  the  execution  of  his  project;  a  sailing  vessel  was 
constructed  close  above  Niagara  Falls,  and  in  August,  1678,  its 

40  For  the  original  documents  pertaining  to  La  Salle's  work  see  Margry's  collection. 
For  standard  secondary  accounts  see  the  works  of  Parkman  and  Winsor.  I  have  drawn 
freely  upon  these  in  preparing  this  portion  of  my  own  narrative. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  31 

sails  were  spread  upon  Lake  Erie  for  the  voyage  around  the  upper 
lakes.  Arrived  at  Green  Bay,  the  vessel  was  loaded  with  furs 
and  started  on  its  return,  while  La  Salle  and  fourteen  followers, 
in  four  canoes,  continued  their  way  down  the  western  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan.  The  party  laboriously  made  its  way  past  the 
site  of  the  modern  cities  of  Milwaukee  and  Chicago  and  around 
the  southern  end  of  the  lake  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph 
River.  This  had  been  agreed  upon  as  the  place  of  rendezvous 
with  Tonty,  La  Salle's  faithful  lieutenant,  who  with  twenty 
men  was  toiling,  meanwhile,  down  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake 
from  Mackinac.  Tonty  had  been  delayed,  and  La  Salle  employed 
the  period  of  waiting  for  him  in  building  Fort  Miami  on  an 
eminence  near  the  mouth  of  the  river.  This  became,  therefore, 
the  oldest  fort  in  this  region,  and  constituted  an  important 
base  of  operations  for  the  prosecution  of  his  designs. 

At  last  Tonty  arrived,  bringing  news  which  rendered  probable 
the  loss  of  La  Salle's  sailing  vessel,  the  "  Griffin,"  with  her  cargo 
of  furs.  Early  in  December  the  combined  party  ascended  the 
St.  Joseph  River  to  the  portage  leading  to  the  Kankakee,  near 
the  site  of  the  modern  city  of  South  Bend.  Down  the  latter 
river  they  passed  and  into  the  Illinois,  until  they  came  to  the 
great  Indian  village,  in  the  vicinity  of  Starved  Rock,  where 
Marquette  and  Allouez  had  labored  as  missionaries  during  the 
past  five  years.  The  place  was  deserted,  however,  the  inhabit- 
ants having  departed  for  their  annual  winter  hunt.  The  journey 
was  resumed,  therefore,  as  far  as  Lake  Peoria,  near  which  place 
a  village  of  the  Illinois  was  found. 

A  parley  was  held  with  the  Indians,  in  the  course  of  which 
La  Salle  unfolded  his  design  of  building  a  fort  in  their  midst, 
and  a  "great  wooden  Canoe"  on  the  Mississippi,  which  would 
go  down  to  the  sea,  and  return  thence  with  the  goods  they  so 
much  desired.  La  Salle  was  successful  in  overcoming  alike  the 
suspicions  of  the  natives,  the  intrigues  of  his  enemies,  and  the 
disloyalty  of  his  own  men.  A  site  suitable  for  a  fort  was  selected, 
and  here  in  the  dead  of  winter  was  constructed  the  first  civilized 
habitation  of  a  permanent  character  in  the  modern  state  of 


32  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Illinois;  the  Indians  gave  to  the  fort  the  name  of  Checagou, 
but  by  La  Salle  it  was  christened  Fort  Crevecoeur. 

La  Salle  had  thus  established  himself  in  the  heart  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  and  had  initiated  the  work  of  carving  out 
what  was  to  become  the  imperial  domain  of  French  Louisiana. 
But  the  major  portion  of  that  work  lay  yet  before  him,  and 
difficulties  were  to  succeed  one  another  in  its  prosecution  until 
the  leader's  death  at  the  hands  of  a  hidden  assassin  was  to 
terminate  his  life  in  seeming  failure.  It  is  not  our  purpose 
here  to  attempt  a  history  of  La  Salle's  career;  rather  our  aim 
is  to  sketch  such  of  its  salient  features  as  may  be  pertinent  to 
the  unfolding  of  the  story  of  the  genesis  of  Chicago.  The  loss 
of  the  "Griffin"  imposed  upon  La  Salle  the  necessity  of  returning 
to  Fort  Frontenac  for  supplies.  Having  urged  forward  the 
construction  of  his  fort  and  arranged  for  the  departure  of 
Hennepin  and  his  associates  on  what  eventuated  in  their  famous 
exploration  of  the  upper  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  La  Salle  left 
Tonty  in  command  at  Fort  Crevecoeur,  and  himself,  in  March, 
1680,  set  forth  on  his  long  and  terrible  journey.  In  its  course 
he  again  paused  near  Starved  Rock,  noted  the  ease  with  which 
it  might  be  defended,  and  passing  on  to  Fort  Miami,  dispatched 
orders  to  Tonty  to  occupy  and  fortify  it.  He  then  crossed  on 
foot  the  trackless  waste  of  southern  Michigan  in  the  season  of 
spring  floods,  and  came  at  last  to  his  destination.  He  spent 
some  months  in  setting  his  affairs  in  order,  and  in  August,  1680, 
set  out  on  the  return  to  Illinois,  passing  by  way  of  Mackinac 
and  thence  down  the  eastern  side  of  Lake  Michigan  to  Fort 
Miami. 

Meanwhile,  what  of  Tonty  and  affairs  at  Fort  Crevecoeur  ? 
Faithful  to  his  orders,  Tonty,  on  receipt  of  the  dispatch  which 
La  Salle  had  sent  forward  from  Fort  Miami,  set  forth  to  occupy 
Starved  Rock.  In  his  absence  the  men  left  at  Fort  Crevecoeur, 
spurred  on  by  the  tales  of  financial  disaster  to  La  Salle  related 
by  the  new  arrivals,  rose  in  mutiny.  They  destroyed  the  fort, 
stole  its  provisions,  and  writing  on  the  side  of  the  unfinished 
vessel  the  legend  Nous  sommes  tons  sauvages — "We  are  all 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  33 

savages" — departed.  Upon  the  heels  of  this  disaster  succeeded 
a  still  greater  menace  to  La  Salle's  designs.  It  was  essential 
to  their  success  that  the  Illinois  Indians  should  retain  peaceable 
possession  of  their  territory.  But  now  came  against  them  a  war 
party  of  the  terrible  Iroquois.  They  assailed  and  destroyed 
the  village  at  the  Rock  and  pursued  the  fleeing  Illinois  until 
the  scattered  survivors  found  refuge  across  the  Mississippi. 

The  indomitable  Tonty,  almost  alone  in  this  sea  of  savagery, 
had  done  what  he  could  to  save  the  Illinois  from  destruction. 
His  efforts  proved  vain,  and  with  his  few  followers  he  fled  from 
impending  destruction.  Their  goal  was  distant  Mackinac,  and 
their  route  was  up  the  Illinois  and  the  Des  Plaines  to  Lake 
Michigan  and  thence  northward  along  its  western  shore.  Doubt- 
less the  forlorn  little  party  passed  by  Chicago,  though  we  have 
no  direct  details  as  to  this  portion  of  their  journey.  Hardships 
and  dangers  in  abundance  were  endured  before  the  survivors 
found  refuge  with  a  band  of  friendly  Pottawatomies  at  some 
point  to  the  southward  of  Green  Bay. 

Shortly  after  the  destruction  of  the  Illinois  La  Salle,  in 
ignorance  of  what  had  happened,  came  from  Fort  Miami  to  the 
relief  of  Tonty.  In  the  ghastly  remains  of  the  village  at  Starved 
Rock  he  read  the  story  of  this  new  disaster  to  his  plans.  Failing 
to  find  the  bodies  of  Tonty  and  his  companions  among  them, 
he  followed  in  the  track  of  the  pursued  and  pursuing  savages 
until  he  reached  the  Mississippi.  Concluding  at  last  that  Tonty 
had  not  come  this  way  he  retraced  his  steps  to  the  junction  of  the 
Kankakee  with  the  Des  Plaines,  and  turning  up  the  latter  stream 
soon  found  traces  of  Tonty's  party.  It  was  now  the  dead  of 
winter.  Convinced  of  Tonty's  escape,  La  Salle  abandoned  the 
canoes,  which  he  had  dragged  with  him  on  sledges  thus  far, 
and  made  his  way  overland  through  extreme  cold  and  deep 
snow  to  Fort  Miami,  where  he  arrived  at  the  end  of  January. 

The  design  was  now  conceived  by  La  Salle  of  welding  the 
western  tribes  into  a  confederation,  which,  under  the  guidance 
of  himself  and  his  French  followers,  should  oppose  the  maraud- 
ing incursions  of  the  Iroquois  into  the  West.  The  year  1681 


34  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

was  devoted  to  the  furthering  of  this  project  and  to  the  gather- 
ing of  La  Salle's  scattered  resources  for  a  renewal  of  his  attempt 
at  establishing  himself  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Late  in  the 
year  he  was  again  at  Fort  Miami  with  a  considerable  party  of 
French  and  Indians,  ready  for  the  exploit  which  has  given  him 
his  greatest  fame — the  descent  of  the  Mississippi  to  its  mouth. 

From  Fort  Miami  the  route  followed  led  around  the  foot 
of  Lake  Michigan  to  Chicago;  thence  across  the  portage  and 
down  the  Des  Plaines,  the  Illinois,  and  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  expedition  set  forth  in  two  divisions, 
Tonty  with  the  first  crossing  over  to  the  Chicago  River  in  the 
closing  days  of  December,  1681,  where  he  prepared  sledges 
for  transporting  the  canoes  and  equipment  on  the  ice,  and 
awaited  the  arrival  of  his  chief.  La  Salle  with  the  second  division 
arrived  early  in  January,  and  after  a  detention  of  a  few  days, 
occasioned  by  unfavorable  weather,  the  united  party  set  out, 
dragging  their  sledges  on  the  surface  of  the  frozen  rivers  until 
open  water  was  reached  below  Lake  Peoria.  There  they  em- 
barked, and  three  months  later,  on  April  9,  1682,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Great  River  he  had  descended  La  Salle  took  formal  posses- 
sion, under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  of  all  the  vast  country  drained 
by  it  and  by  its  tributaries,  stretching  "from  the  Alleghenies  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains;  from  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Gulf  to 
the  farthest  springs  of  the  Missouri."61 

La  Salle's  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  caused 
him  to  broaden  his  projects.  He  would  establish  a  colony  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Great  River  to  serve  as  an  outlet  for  his  colony 
on  the  Illinois  where  he  hoped  to  gather  the  furs  on  which  he 
relied  to  render  his  whole  vast  enterprise  commercially  successful. 
The  prosecution  of  his  designs,  therefore,  depended  ultimately 
on  his  ability  to  make  the  Illinois  colony  profitable.  On  his 
return  to  Mackinac  from  the  descent  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the 
autumn  of  1682,  he  learned  that  the  Iroquois  were  about  to 
renew  their  attacks  upon  the  West.  The  best  efforts  of  himself 
and  Tonty  were  now  directed,  therefore,  to  the  fortification  of 

61  Parkman,  La  Salle,  chap.  xxi. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  35 

Starved  Rock,  which  he  planned  to  serve  as  the  center  of  his 
colony  and  its  rock  of  defense  against  the  invader. 

Here,  on  a  cliff  which  rises  sheer  from  the  water's  edge  to  a 
height  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  with  its  crest  about 
an  acre  in  extent,  and  accessible  only  by  a  narrow  pathway  in 
the  rear,  during  the  winter  of  1682  and  1683  the  fort  was  con- 
structed. At  the  same  time  the  work  of  alliance  with  the  Indians 
went  vigorously  forward  until  from  the  lofty  ramparts  of  St.  Louis, 
the  name  given  by  La  Salle  to  his  fortress,  the  leader  could  look 
down  upon  the  lodges  of  four  thousand  warriors,  gathered  from 
half  a  score  of  tribes,  and  a  total  population  of  upward  of  twenty 
thousand  souls.  The  stability  of  the  colony  thus  gathered 
depended  on  La  Salle's  ability  to  protect  his  allies  against  the 
Iroquois,  and  to  furnish  them  with  goods  and  a  market  for 
their  furs. 

La  Salle's  career  shows  that  over  natural  obstacles  and  the 
wiles  of  the  red  man  he  could  rise  triumphant,  but  that  he  was 
no  match  for  the  intriguing  enemies  of  his  own  race.  By  these 
his  plans  were  shipwrecked  once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  so 
far  as  his  Illinois  career  was  concerned.  Count  Frontenac,  his 
staunch  supporter  hitherto,  was  recalled,  and  the  new  governor, 
De  la  Barre,  pursued  a  policy  of  unscrupulous  hostility  toward 
him.  His  ammunition  and  supplies  to  sustain  himself  against 
the  Iroquois  were  detained,  lying  reports  about  him  were  sent 
to  the  home  government,  and  finally  a  force  was  sent  to  supersede 
him  in  command  of  Fort  St.  Louis. 

La  Salle's  only  remedy  against  such  an  enemy  was  to  appeal 
in  person  to  his  monarch.  Leaving  Tonty  in  command  of  the 
colony  he  went,  by  way  of  Canada,  to  France,  whence  he  em- 
barked upon  the  enterprise  which  was  to  end  so  disastrously  in 
the  wilds  of  Texas.  Under  the  guidance  of  others  Louisiana 
became,  in  the  following  century,  the  fairest  province  of  New 
France.  Wrested  from  French  control  by  the  Anglo-Saxon,  it 
has  come  in  time  to  constitute  the  heart  and  center  of  our 
magnificent  national  domain.  The  geographical  monuments  to 
the  memory  of  La  Salle  are  few;  a  county  in  Texas,  a  city  and 


36  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

a  county  in  Illinois  are  all,  aside  from  a  few  insignificant  post 
towns,  that  bear  his  name.  Yet  in  the  eyes  of  history  he  will 
always  be  regarded  as  the  father  of  Louisiana,  a  province  as 
favored  by  Nature,  as  imperial  in  character,  as  any  the  sun 
ever  shone  upon. 

Since  1678  La  Salle's  chief  lieutenant  in  the  prosecution 
of  his  enterprises  had  been  the  capable  and  valorous  Tonty.62 
La  Salle's  mission  to  the  French  Court  in  1684  nad  resulted  in 
the  restoration  of  Tonty  to  command  at  Fort  St.  Louis.  On 
the  death  of  La  Salle  he  sought  to  step  into  his  former  leader's 
place,  and  to  complete  the  establishment  of  the  French  power 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  For  a  dozen  years  longer  he  held 
his  lofty  post  of  St.  Louis,  seeking  meanwhile  to  interest  the 
French  Court  in  the  uncompleted  design  of  his  former  chief. 
But  other  and  more  powerful  interests  held  the  ear  of  the  distant 
monarch,  and  his  efforts  were  in  vain.  Finally,  in  1700  an 
expedition  was  sent  out  under  the  command  of  Iberville  to  take 
possession  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  A  settlement  was 
made  at  Biloxi  Bay,  and  hither  Tonty  came,  abandoning  his 
fort  at  the  Rock,  and  joining  his  efforts  in  support  of  the  more 
powerful  enterprise.  After  four  years  more  of  service  in  the 
cause  in  which  he  had  first  enlisted  under  La  Salle's  banner,  he 
died  at  Biloxi  of  yellow  fever.  There  in  September,  1704, 
"was  dug  the  grave  of  the  most  unselfish  and  loyal,  as  he  was 
one  of  the  most  courageous  and  intrepid,  of  the  many  knightly 
men  who  blazed  the  path  whence  entered  civilization  into  what 
later  became  known  as  the  old  Northwest."63 

During  Tonty's  occupancy  of  Fort  St.  Louis  in  the  period  fol- 
lowing the  death  of  La  Salle  a  number  of  travelers  passed  between 
Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  by  the  Chicago-Illinois  route 
the  records  of  whose  experiences  are  still  preserved.  One  of  the 
most  interesting  of  these  narratives  is  that  of  Joutel,  the  com- 

"  The  story  of  Tonty  is  told  by  Parkman  in  connection  with  his  account  of  La  Salle. 
"Henry  de  Tonty,"  a  sketch  and  appreciation  of  Tonty's  career  by  Henry  E.  Legler,  is 
printed  in  Parkman  Club  Publications,  No.  3.  For  an  English  translation  of  Tonty's  own 
modest  narrative  of  his  career  to  1693  see  French,  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,  I,  52  ff. 

*>  Legler,  op.  cil.,  37. 


0    -3 
fn   .a 


S  5 


O    g 

P/j      u 

Q   « 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  37 

panion  of  Cavelier.64  Their  party  comprised  the  sole  sur- 
vivors of  La  Salle's  ill-fated  Texan  expedition  who  returned  to 
France  and  civilization.  They  came,  a  band  of  five  forlorn 
fugitives,  up  the  Mississippi  and  the  Illinois,  arriving  at  Fort 
St.  Louis  in  September,  1687.  Carefully  concealing  the  fact  of 
La  Salle's  death,  they  obtained  means  to  continue  their  journey, 
and  soon  set  out  for  Lake  Michigan  accompanied  by  a  dozen 
savages  who  carried  their  goods  and  baggage,  because  of  the 
lack  of  water  in  the  Des  Plaines.  On  the  twenty-fifth  they 
arrived  at  Chicago  and  there  found  a  canoe  left  by  some  French- 
men who  had  recently  passed  down  to  Fort  St.  Louis.  Their 
lack  of  experience  as  canoemen,  together  with  contrary  winds 
and  bad  weather,  caused  a  delay  of  eight  days  at  this  place. 
Meanwhile  the  season  was  advancing  and  their  scanty  supply 
of  provisions  was  being  consumed.  The  state  of  mind  to  which 
they  were  reduced  is  naively  shown  by  the  record  of  Joutel  that 
one  of  the  party,  having  shot  at  some  chickens  and  cracked  his 
gun,  "was  so  provoked  that  it  gave  him  a  fever." 

Finally  they  embarked  on  the  lake  and  advanced  some  eight 
or  ten  leagues  along  the  shore  to  the  northward,  striving  to  come 
to  the  villages  of  the  Pottawatomies,  where  they  hoped  to  pro- 
cure a  fresh  supply  of  food.  The  effort  was  a  pitiful  failure. 
Starvation  lay  before  them;  the  loss  of  a  year  of  time  with  the 
consequently  lessened  prospect  of  affording  succor  in  season  to 
the  survivors  of  La  Salle's  colony  in  Texas,  and  the  danger  of 
the  discovery  of  their  guilty  secret  concerning  their  leader's 
fate,  awaited  their  return  to  Fort  St.  Louis. 

They  decided,  however,  to  turn  back.  It  was  a  dejected 
party,  we  may  well  believe,  which  came  early  in  October  to  the 
entrance  of  the  Chicago  River.  Here  they  made  a  cache  in 
which  they  concealed  their  goods,  put  their  canoe  upon  a  scaffold, 
and  retraced  their  steps  to  Fort  St.  Louis.  In  this  place  they 
passed  the  winter,  and  from  them  we  get  our  fullest  description  of 

14  For  the  story  of  Cavelier's  party  see  JouteFs  Journal  printed  in  Margry,  III,  80- 
535.  An  abridged  and  distorted  English  translation  of  the  Journal  was  published  in  1714, 
and  this  was  reprinted  at  Albany  in  1906  under  the  editorial  direction  of  Henry  Reed 
Stiles. 


38  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

the  fort,  and  of  the  manner  of  life  that  prevailed  there.  Some 
three  weeks  after  their  arrival  at  the  fort  Tonty  returned  from 
his  participation  in  Denonville's  famous  campaign  against  the 
Iroquois.  From  Fort  St.  Louis  he  had  led  sixteen  Frenchmen 
and  two  hundred  Indians  to  share  in  this  distant  enterprise. 
With  a  baseness  which  is  difficult  to  excuse  the  fugitives  deceived 
him  concerning  the  death  of  La  Salle,  and  after  accepting  his 
hospitality  through  the  winter  secured  from  him,  on  the  assump- 
tion that  La  Salle  was  still  alive,  a  considerable  quantity  of  furs 
and  other  supplies. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  spring  floods  they  set  out  once 
more  for  Chicago,  March  21,  1688.  They  arrived  on  March  29, 
after  a  toilsome  journey.  Because  of  the  swiftness  of  the  river 
they  were  compelled  to  wade  in  the  water,  pulling  their  canoes, 
much  of  the  way.  Joutel  avers  that  he  suffered  more  on  this 
short  trip  than  he  had  done  before  since  his  departure  from  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Again  bad  weather  compelled  them  to  delay 
at  Chicago,  this  time  for  ten  days.  There  was  little  game  and 
they  had  only  corn  meal  to  eat.  But  Providence  furnished  them 
"a  kind  of  manna"  to  eat  with  their  meal,  which  appears  from 
the  description  to  have  consisted  of  maple  sap.  They  also 
procured  in  the  woods  garlic  and  other  edible  plants,  and  Joutel 
records  that  Chicago  takes  its  name,  as  they  were  informed, 
from  the  profusion  of  garlic  growing  in  the  surrounding  woods.65 

The  members  of  JoutePs  party  passed  on  to  Canada,  and  here 
we  may  leave  them  to  pursue  their  way,  burdened  with  their 
terrible  secret,  as  best  they  may.  Our  interest  meanwhile  shifts 
to  the  story  of  Father  Pinet  and  his  mission  of  the  Guardian 
Angel.  We  have  seen  that  commerce  and  the  Cross  entered 
the  upper  Mississippi  Valley  together  in  1673,  in  the  persons  of 
Joliet  and  Marquette.  During  the  succeeding  years  the  efforts 
of  the  servants  of  the  Cross  to  gain  control  of  this  region  were 
scarcely  less  zealous  than  were  those  of  the  devotees  of  trade. 
The  missionary  accompanied,  sometimes  even  preceded,  the 
explorer  in  his  journeys,  seeking  everywhere  to  introduce  the 

"  Margry,  III,  485. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  39 

doctrine  of  the  true  faith  and  win  the  natives  to  the  Church. 
The  representatives  of  the  Jesuit  order  were  the  most  active 
agents  of  the  Church  in  this  work  of  proselyting.  Under  its 
auspices  Marquette  had  established  the  Illinois  Mission.  Its 
vicissitudes  of  fortune  were  as  various  as  those  of  La  Salle 
himself,  but,  on  the  whole,  it  was  as  successful  as  any  in  all  the 
annals  of  Catholic  missions  to  the  red  man.66 

We  are  more  particularly  concerned  with  that  portion  of  the 
work  of  the  Jesuits  among  the  Illinois  which  pertains  to  the 
mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel  at  Chicago.67  This  was  estab- 
lished in  1696  by  Father  Pierre  Pinet,  who  had  been  stationed 
at  Mackinac  for  a  couple  of  years.  According  to  the  Jesuit 
records,  however,  Pinet  was  soon  driven  from  Chicago  and  his 
mission  broken  up  by  no  less  a  person  than  Count  Frontenac. 
governor  of  New  France.68  An  appeal  to  Bishop  Laval  resulted 
in  a  cessation  of  Frontenac's  opposition,  which,  in  the  eyes  of 
Pinet's  associates,  amounted  to  persecution.  The  mission  of  the 
Guardian  Angel  was  accordingly  resumed  in  1698,  but  two  years 
later  it  was  permanently  abandoned. 

Pinet  was  a  man  of  deeds  rather  than  words,  and  has  himself 
left  no  account  of  his  mission.  The  statements  of  his  associates 
show  that  he  was  successful  in  his  work  here;  the  adult  Indians, 
"hardened  in  debauchery,"  paid  little  heed  to  his  teachings,  but 
the  young  were  baptized,  and  even  the  medicine  men,  who  were 
the  most  inveterate  opponents  of  Christianity,  manifested  a 
desire  to  have  their  children  instructed.69  It  was  Pinet's  prac- 
tice to  spend  only  the  summer  season  at  Chicago.  The  winters 
he  spent  with  the  missionaries  lower  down  on  the  Illinois,  or  in 
following  his  charges  on  their  annual  hunt.70 

"  For  the  history  of  the  Illinois  Mission  see  Shea,  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian 
Tribes  of  the  United,  States,  chaps,  xxii,  xxiii. 

67  For  a  brief  biographical  sketch  of  Pinet  see  Jesuit  Relations,  LXIV,  278.  Various 
references  to  Pinet  scattered  throughout  the  Jesuit  Relations  have  been  collected  by  Frank 
R.  Grover  in  his  lecture  on  Pinet  and  his  mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel  of  Chicago,  pub- 
lished by  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  in  1007. 

"  Letter  of  Gravier  to  Laval,  September  17,  1697,  Jesuit  Relations,  LXV,  52. 

"  Ibid.,  70;  Shea,  Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi,  53-54. 

*•  Jesuit  Relations,  LXV,  70;  Shea,  op.  cit.,  53,  59. 


40  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  site  of  the  mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel  has  long  been 
a  subject  of  misapprehension.  Aside  from  the  general  allusions 
to  the  mission  as  being  at  Chicago,  the  document  of  chief  impor- 
tance in  determining  its  location  is  the  letter  of  St.  Cosme  of 
January  2,  i699-71  He  had  passed  during  the  preceding  autumn 
and  early  winter,  in  company  with  a  party  of  associates,  from 
Mackinac  to  the  Mississippi  by  way  of  Green  Bay,  the  Chicago 
Portage,  and  the  Illinois  River  route,  and  the  letter  is,  in  fact, 
a  report  concerning  this  trip.  The  party  spent  some  time  at 
Pinet's  mission,  detained  by  storms  and  other  obstacles.  From 
a  study  of  this  letter,  as  printed  by  Shea,  Grover  concludes  that 
the  mission  was  situated  above  the  modern  Chicago  on  the 
North  Shore,  near  the  present  village  of  Gross  Point.72 

Shea's  translation  of  St.  Cosme's  letter,  however,  frequently 
departs  from  the  original  manuscript.73  Because  of  this  fact, 
reference  to  the  latter  deprives  Grover's  argument  of  whatever 
force  it  might  otherwise  possess.74  It  shows  that  St.  Cosme's 
party  left  the  site  of  the  modern  city  of  Racine  on  October  17, 
and  having  been  detained  by  wind,  cabined  three  days  later 
"five  leagues  from  Chikagwa."  This  they  should  have  reached 
early  on  the  twenty-first,  but  a  wind  suddenly  springing  up  from 
the  lake  obliged  them  to  land  "half  a  league  from  Etpikagwa." 
Here  the  priests  left  their  baggage  with  the  canoemen,  and  went 
"by  land"  to  the  house  of  Father  Pinet,  which  they  say  was 
built  on  the  bank  of  the  little  river,  having  on  one  side  the  lake 
and  on  the  other  a  fine  large  prairie.  On  the  twenty-fourth, 
the  wind  having  fallen,  they  had  their  canoes  brought  with 
all  their  baggage,  and,  the  waters  being  extremely  low,  placed 
everything  not  absolutely  necessary  for  their  further  journey 
in  a  cache,  to  be  sent  for  the  following  spring.  Finally  on  the 

71  Printed  in  Shea,  op.  cit.,  45  ff.  "  Grover,  Pinet,  167  ff. 

"  This  is  preserved  in  the  archives  of  Laval  University  at  Quebec.  I  have  used  an 
attested  copy  made  "with  the  greatest  possible  fidelity"  by  Father  Gosselin,  archivist  of 
Laval  University,  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 

74  Aside  from  the  inaccuracy  of  Shea's  translation  of  St.  Cosme's  letter,  on  which 
Grover  bases  his  argument,  he  has  made  it  the  basis  of  a  number  of  unwarranted  and  errone- 
ous conclusions. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  41 

twenty-ninth  they  started  from  Chicago  and  encamped  for  the 
night  at  the  portage,  two  leagues  up  the  river. 

It  is  clear  from  this  account  that  "Etpikagwa"  was  a  point 
on  the  lake  not  more  than  fifteen  miles  north  of  Chicago;  that 
here  the  party  landed  early  on  October  21,  and  the  priests, 
leaving  the  boatmen  behind,  went  by  land  to  Pinet's  house. 
Grover  says  that  this  shows  the  mission  was  not  on  the  lake 
shore,  and  that  they  went  inland  to  reach  it;  and  he  further 
assumes  that  they  proceeded  but  a  short  distance.  In  fact, 
it  shows  neither  of  these  things,  and  since  three  days  elapsed 
before  the  canoes  were  sent  for,  there  is  nothing  in  the  account 
inconsistent  with  the  supposition  that  the  priests  proceeded 
a  distance  of  fifteen  miles  down  the  lake  shore  in  coming  to  the 
mission. 

On  the  contrary,  the  account  directly  supports  this  supposi- 
tion. If  the  mission  was  inland  near  the  Skokie  marsh,  as  Grover 
supposes,  they  could  hardly  have  had  the  canoes  brought  to 
it  on  the  twenty-fourth.  The  supposition  that  it  was  located 
at  the  modern  Chicago  is  strengthened  by  St.  Cosme's  account 
of  the  departure  from  Chicago.  Having  sent  for  the  canoes  on 
the  twenty-fourth,  the  party  started  from  Chicago  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  and  camped  for  the  night  two  leagues  up  the  river  at  the 
beginning  of  the  portage.  They  had  been  staying  with  Father 
Pinet,  and  Father  Pinet  was  at  "Chikagwa."  Now  they  depart 
from  "Chikagwa,"  and  two  leagues  away,  "where  the  little 
river  loses  itself  in  the  prairies,"  and  at  the  commencement  of 
the  portage  they  camp.  Pinet's  mission  was,  then,  apparently, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River.  Reverting  to  the  descrip- 
tion already  given  of  it  as  "on  the  bank  of  the  little  river,  having 
on  one  side  the  lake,  and  on  the  other  a  fine  large  prairie,"  we 
find  nothing  to  conflict  with  this  conclusion. 

Finally,  St.  Cosme  records  that  having  made  half  of  the 
portage  they  were  delayed  by  the  discovery  that  a  little  boy,  who 
had  joined  the  party,  had  wandered  off.  St.  Cosme  with  four 
of  the  men  turned  back  next  day  to  look  for  him.  Their  quest 
was  unsuccessful,  and  the  next  day  being  All  Saints',  St.  Cosme 


42  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

was  obliged  to  go  and  pass  the  night  at  Chicago.  Mass  having 
been  said  early,  the  following  day  was  devoted  to  the  search. 
Evidently  the  Chicago  here  referred  to  was  not,  as  Grover  sup- 
poses, located  on  the  North  Shore  fifteen  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  river.  On  the  contrary,  it  must  have  been  within  a  reason- 
able distance  of  the  portage  where  the  boy  was  lost.  From  every 
point  of  view  the  study  of  St.  Cosme's  letter  leads  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel  was  on  the 
Chicago  River  at  some  point  between  the  forks  and  the  mouth. 

The  members  of  St.  Cosme's  party  proceeded  on  their  way, 
having  left  a  man  at  Chicago  in  charge  of  some  of  their  supplies, 
and  without  having  found  the  lost  boy.  After  spending  the 
whiter  among  the  tribes  along  the  lower  Mississippi,  the  party 
retraced  its  steps  northward.75  St.  Cosme  remained  among  the 
Tamaroas  at  Cahokia,  while  his  companions  continued  on  their 
way  to  Chicago,  where  they  arrived  on  "maundy  Thursday." 
One  of  them  records  that  the  boy  who  had  been  lost  made  his 
way  to  Chicago  after  thirteen  days,  utterly  exhausted  and  "out 
of  his  head."  In  the  spring  of  1700  Father  Pinet  abandoned 
his  mission  at  Chicago  and  joined  St.  Cosme  at  Cahokia,  where 
he  died  a  few  years  later.76  Therewith  Chicago  ceased  to  be  a 
place  of  residence  for  white  men  for  almost  a  century.  Owing 
to  causes  which  will  be  set  forth  in  the  following  chapter,  the 
frequent  visits  made  by  the  French  in  the  seventeenth  century 
ceased,  and  the  story  of  Chicago  during  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  concerns  itself  almost  wholly  with  the 
terrible  Indian  wars  which  desolated  the  Northwest  during  this 
period. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  on  the  subject  of  a  fort  at 
Chicago  in  the  French  period.  In  the  Treaty  of  Greenville  of 
1795  one  of  the  cessions  which  General  Wayne  extorted  from  the 
tribes  was  a  tract  of  land  six  miles  square  at  the  mouth  of  the 

"  On  the  travels  and  experiences  of  the  missionaries  see  their  letters  in  Shea,  Early 
Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi. 

'*  Citations  from  the  Jesuit  Relations  in  Grover,  Pinet,  162-64.  The  date  of  Pinet's 
death  is  variously  given  as  1702  and  1704. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  43 

Chicago  River  "where  a  fort  formerly  stood."77  Since  the  Eng- 
lish never  had  a  fort  at  Chicago,  the  allusion  is  obviously  to  one 
belonging  to  the  French.  Thomas  Hutchins,  the  first  and  only 
civil  "geographer  of  the  United  States,"78  who  himself  had 
traveled  extensively  in  the  Northwest,  placed  an  "Indian  Village 
and  Fort"  at  the  entrance  of  the  Chicago  River  on  the  map 
which  accompanied  his  famous  Topographical  Description  of 
1778.  Many  earlier  maps  might  be  cited  to  show  the  existence 
of  a  fort  at  Chicago  in  the  French  period.79  Coming  to  secondary 
accounts,  most  of  the  local  histories  which  treat  of  early  Chicago 
with  any  degree  of  fulness  credit  the  French  fort  tradition.80 
Mr.  Edward  G.  Mason,  a  zealous  worker  in  the  field  of  Illinois 
history,  even  thought  there  was  a  fort  at  Chicago  from  1685 
until  the  end  of  French  control  in  this  region.81 

Despite  these  numerous  assertions,  however,  it  is  extremely 
doubtful  whether  the  French  ever  had  a  regular  fort  at  Chicago, 
and  it  can  be  shown  conclusively  that  if  so  it  existed  for  but  a 
short  period  only.  La  Salle  and  Tonty  passed  by  Chicago  at 
various  times  and  their  movements  are  known  during  the  entire 
period  of  La  Salle's  activities  in  Illinois.  But  for  two  exceptions, 
to  be  noted  shortly,  they  nowhere  speak  of  a  fort  at  Chicago  at 
this  time,  and  the  evidence  that  there  was  none,  though  negative, 
may  be  regarded  as  conclusive.  There  was  no  establishment  at 

77  American  Stale  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  562. 

w  Hutchins,  Topographical  Description  of  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and 
North  Carolina,  7. 

n  E.g.,  Hennepin,  Nouvelle  decouverte  d'un  Iris  grand  pays  silut  dans  I'Amfrique,  Utrecht, 
1697,  I,  (facing)  i.  This  map  was  frequently  copied  by  others  in  the  years  following  its 
first  appearance.  Jean  Baptiste  Homann's  map  of  North  and  South  America  (copy  in 
Chicago  Historical  Society  library),  of  unknown  date,  but  probably  about  the  year  1700; 
Bellin,  Carle  de  I'Amerique  septentrionale,  1755;  Jean  Roque's  map  of  North  America. 
1754-61. 

'"  See  among  others  Mason,  Chapters  from  Illinois  History,  163-64;  Hurlbut,  Chicago 
Antiquities,  164,  171,  360-61,  592;  Blanchard,  Discovery  and  Conquests  of  the  Northwest 
with  the  History  of  Chicago,  I,  68  (this  work  will  be  cited  henceforth  as  The  Northwest  and 
Chicago) ;  Davidson  and  Stuv6,  History  of  Illinois,  260.  Many  other  works  and  historical 
articles  speak  more  or  less  briefly  of  the  supposed  French  fort  at  Chicago;  see  for  example 
Andreas,  History  of  Chicago,  I,  79;  Shea,  "Chicago  from  1673  to  1825,"  in  Historical  Maga- 
zine, V,  103. 

"Mason,  "Early  Visitors  to  Chicago,"  201-2. 


44  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Chicago  in  1687  when  Cavalier  La  Salle's  party  was  here  vainly 
seeking  to  push  on  to  Mackinac;  nor  in  1688  when  the  same 
party,  having  wintered  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  again  tarried  at 
Chicago  while  on  its  way  to  Canada.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
such  a  fort  was  established  in  the  succeeding  decade;  and  there 
is  negative  evidence  to  the  contrary,  both  in  the  fact  that  St. 
Cosme  makes  no  mention  of  a  fort  at  Chicago  at  the  time  of  his 
visit  and  that  the  French  government  gave  only  a  grudging 
permission  to  Tonty  to  continue  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  limiting  his 
yearly  operations  to  two  canoes  of  merchandise,  and  finally, 
by  royal  decree,  directing  the  abandonment  of  the  fort.82 

We  have  thus  arrived  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Did  the  French  have  a  fort  at  Chicago  between  the 
years  1700  and  1763?  James  Logan's  report  to  Governor 
Keith  in  1718,  upon  the  French  establishment  in  the  interior, 
which  was  used  by  Keith  in  his  memorial  to  the  Board  of  Trade, 
so  asserts.  By  the  latter  the  statements  of  Logan  were  incorpo- 
rated in  a  report  to  the  king,83  and  this,  apparently,  was  the 
source  of  Popple's  representation  of  a  "Fort  Miamis"  at  Chicago 
on  his  great  Map  of  the  British  Empire  in  America  of  I732.84 
In  spite  of  this  contemporary  evidence,  which  has  gained  the 
approval  of  many  historians,  it  may  confidently  be  asserted  that 
no  such  fort  existed  at  Chicago  in  the  eighteenth  century.  That 
there  was  no  fort  here  in  1715  is  shown  by  two  independent 
sources.  In  November  of  this  year,  Claude  de  Ramezay, 
acting  governor,  and  Begon,  intendant  of  New  France,  in  a 
report  to  the  French  minister  dealing  in  part  with  the  military 
situation  in  the  region  between  the  upper  lakes  and  the  Missis- 
sippi, recommended  the  establishment  of  several  new  posts.85 
Among  the  number  a  post  at  "Chicagou"  was  urged,  "to 
facilitate  access  to  the  Illinois  and  the  miamis,  and  to  keep  those 

"  Legler,  "Henry  de  Tonty";  Winsor,  Carder  to  Frontenac,  340. 

83  Printed  in  O'Callaghan,  New  York  Colonial  Documents,  V,  620-21. 

84  Popple  states  that  his  map  was  undertaken  with  the  approbation  of  the  Lords  of 
Trade;  and  that  it  is  based  upon  maps,  charts,  and  especially  the  records  transmitted  to 
them  by  the  governors  of  the  British  colonies  and  others. 

85  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  327  ff. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  45 

nations  in  our  interests."  If  a  fort  already  existed  at  Chicago 
the  two  highest  officials  in  New  France  would  have  been  aware 
of  the  fact,  and  there  would  have  been  no  reason  for  this  recom- 
mendation. In  this  same  year,  1715,  as  part  of  an  elaborately 
planned  campaign  against  the  Fox  Indians  of  Wisconsin,  the 
French  arranged  for  the  rendezvous  at  Chicago  of  forces  from 
Detroit,  from  the  Wabash,  and  from  the  lower  Illinois  River 
settlements.86  A  series  of  mishaps  caused  a  complete  mis- 
carriage of  plans  for  the  campaign;  but  these  very  mishaps  show 
there  was  at  all  events  no  garrison  at  Chicago.  The  three 
parties  which  were  to  effect  a  junction  here  arrived  at  different 
times,  and,  ignorant  of  the  movements  of  the  others,  each  in 
turn  abandoned  the  expedition  and  retired.  Obviously  if  there 
had  been  a  garrison  at  Chicago  it  would  have  constituted  an 
important  factor  in  planning  the  campaign;  and  the  various 
bands  which  were  to  effect  a  junction  here  would  have  been 
informed,  on  their  arrival,  of  the  movements  of  the  others. 

That  there  was  no  French  establishment  at  Chicago  in  1721 
is  evident  from  the  journal  of  Father  Charlevoix.  In  this  year 
he  was  touring  the  interior  of  America  on  a  royal  commission 
to  examine  and  report  to  his  king  the  condition  of  New  France. 
His  letters  and  history  constitute  the  most  authoritative 
eighteenth-century  source  for  the  history  of  New  France.  In 
the  very  month  of  September,  1721,  when  the  British  Board  of 
Trade  report  was  made,  Charlevoix  passed  from  Fort  St.  Joseph, 
where  the  city  of  Niles,  Michigan,  now  stands,  down  the  Kan- 
kakee  and  the  Illinois  to  Peoria,  and  beyond.87  He  had  first 
intended  to  pass  through  Chicago,  but  a  storm  on  the  lake, 
together  with  information  of  the  impossibility  of  navigating  the 
Des  Plaines  in  a  canoe  at  this  season,  led  him  to  follow  the  route 
by  the  St.  Joseph  Portage  and  the  Kankakee.  His  journal  is 
detailed  and  explicit;  he  carefully  describes  the  various  posts 
and  routes  of  communication.  He  had  planned  to  pass  by 

"Ibid.,  3136. 

"  Charlevoix,  Histoire  et  description  gtntrale  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  avec  le  journal 
historique  d'un  voyage  fail  par  ordre  du  rot  dans  I'Amtrique  septentrionale,  letters  of  September 
14  and  17,  1721. 


46  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Chicago,  and  had  informed  himself  concerning  the  portage  and 
the  Des  Plaines  River.  Yet  he  gives  no  hint  of  a  fort  here,  a 
thing  incomprehensible  if  such  a  fort  had  in  fact  existed. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  in  the  sources  pertaining  to  the 
operations  of  the  French  in  the  Northwest  that  they  had  no 
fort  at  Chicago  after  1721.  In  connection  with  the  Fox  wars 
numerous  campaigns  were  waged  in  which  the  Chicago  garrison, 
if  there  had  been  such,  would  have  participated.  Yet  no  such 
force  is  ever  mentioned,  and  some  of  the  sources  make  it  posi- 
tively evident  that  there  was  neither  garrison  nor  fort  here. 
In  1727  the  holding  of  a  great  conference  with  the  Foxes  the 
following  year  at  Starved  Rock  or  Chicago  was  proposed.88 
If  this  were  done  it  was  deemed  necessary  for  the  French  to  be 
first  on  the  spot  appointed  for  the  rendezvous  "to  erect  a  fort" 
and  otherwise  prepare  for  the  council.  The  project  never 
materialized,  however,  and  so  the  fort  was  not  built.  In  1730, 
when  the  French  succeeded  in  trapping  and  destroying  a  large 
band  of  the  Foxes  in  the  vicinity  of  Starved  Rock,89  parties 
came  to  the  scene  of  conflict  from  many  directions — from 
Ouiatanon,  St.  Joseph,  Fort  Chartres,  and  elsewhere;  but  none 
came  from  Chicago,  although  it  was  nearer  the  scene  than  any 
of  the  places  from  which  the  French  forces  did  come — obviously 
because  there  was  no  garrison  at  Chicago.  In  the  early  winter 
of  1731-32  a  Huron-Iroquois  war  party  passed  from  Detroit  to 
St.  Joseph  and  thence  around  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan 
and  on  into  Wisconsin  to  attack  the  Foxes.90  The  party  paused 
at  Chicago  long  enough  to  build  a  fort  in  which  to  leave  their 
sick.  This  "fort"  was  evidently  a  temporary  Indian  shelter, 
but  it  is  also  evident  that  if  an  ungarrisoned  French  fort  had  been 
standing  here,  the  construction  of  such  a  shelter  would  have  been 
unnecessary.  An  official  list  of  the  commanders  of  the  various 
western  posts  a  dozen  years  later  is  preserved  in  the  French 
colonial  archives.91  The  posts  at  Detroit,  Mackinac,  Green  Bay, 
St.  Joseph,  Ouiatanon,  and  elsewhere  are  mentioned,  but  the 

"  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  3-6. 

"Ibid.,  109-30.  "Ibid.,  148-50.  "  Ibid.,  432-33. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  47 

name  of  Chicago  is  not  included  in  the  list.  Finally  an  exhaust- 
ive memoir  upon  the  posts  and  trade  of  the  interior  of  the 
continent  by  Bougainville  in  1757  includes  no  mention  of  a  post 
at  Chicago,  although  the  neighboring  posts  which  are  known  to 
have  existed  at  this  time  receive  careful  attention.92 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  French  had  no  fort  at  Chicago 
during  the  eighteenth  century.  Did  they  have  one  here  at  any 
time  during  the  seventeenth?  Two  exceptions  to  the  proposi- 
tion that  La  Salle  and  Tonty  make  no  mention  of  such  a  fort 
have  been  noted.  In  a  letter  written  from  the  Chicago  Portage, 
June  4,  1683,  La  Salle93  speaks  of  a  "fort"  here,  built  by  two  of 
his  men  the  preceding  winter.  This  structure  Mason  describes 
as  a  "little  stockade  with  a  log  house  within  its  enclosure,"94 
and  declares  it  to  have  been  the  first  known  structure  of  any- 
thing like  a  permanent  character  at  Chicago.  But  a  log  hut 
constructed  by  two  men  and  never  garrisoned  by  any  regular 
force  hardly  merits  the  designation  of  a  fort  in  the  ordinary 
acceptation  of  this  term,  even  though  it  was  surrounded  by  a 
stockade.  Those  who  speak  of  a  French  fort  at  Chicago  in  this 
period  refer  not  to  this  structure  but  to  the  "Fort  of  Chicagou" 
commanded  by  M.  de  la  Durantaye  in  the  winter  of  1685-86. 

Our  information  concerning  this  fort  is  very  scanty,  being 
confined  to  a  simple  mention  of  it  with  the  name  of  its  com- 
mander, in  Tonty 's  memoir  of  i693.9S  At  the  end  of  October, 
1685,  Tonty  started  from  Mackinac  in  a  canoe  on  Lake  Michigan 
to  go  to  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois  River.  Because  of  the 
lateness  of  the  season  his  progress  was  rendered  impossible  by 
the  formation  of  ice  in  the  lake.  This  compelled  him  to  return 
to  Mackinac,  whence  he  again  set  forth,  this  time  by  land,  for 
Fort  St.  Louis.  An  earlier  account  of  this  trip  than  that  of 
1693,  but  of  equal  brevity,  was  written  by  Tonty  in  the  summer 
of  I686.96  It  does  not  even  mention  Durantaye's  "Fort  of 

*  Ibid.,  XVIII,  167  ff.  "  Margry,  II,  317. 
94  Mason,  Chapters  from  Illinois  History,  144. 

**  French,  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,  I,  67. 

*  Letter  of  Tonty  to  M.  Cabart  de  Villermont,  August  24,  1686,  in  Margry,  III,  560. 


48  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Chicagou,"  but  it  adds  certain  details  concerning  Tonty's  trip 
which  are  of  importance  in  determining  the  location  of  that 
establishment. 

Tonty  was,  of  course,  familiar  by  1686  with  both  sides  of 
Lake  Michigan.  In  view  of  this  fact  it  is  extremely  improbable 
that,  having  to  go  by  land  from  Mackinac  to  Fort  St.  Louis  in 
the  winter  time,  he  would  make  the  long  detour  around  the  head 
of  Lake  Michigan  and  Green  Bay  and  down  the  western  side 
of  the  lake,  rather  than  follow  the  shorter  route  down  the  eastern 
side  and  around  its  southern  end.  This  reasoning  finds  support 
in  the  statements  of  Tonty  of  the  distances  he  traversed.  The 
entire  distance  from  Mackinac  to  Fort  St.  Louis  he  gives  as  two 
hundred  leagues,  and  states  that  after  traveling  one  hundred 
and  twenty  leagues  he  came  to  Durantaye's  fort.  It  was, 
therefore,  eighty  leagues  from  Fort  St.  Louis.  The  usual 
estimate  of  French  travelers  of  this  time  of  the  distance  between 
Chicago  and  Fort  St.  Louis  was  thirty  leagues;97  while  the  dis- 
tance overland  from  St.  Joseph  to  Fort  St.  Louis  was  approxi- 
mately eighty  leagues.  It  is  incredible  that  Tonty  would  esti- 
mate the  distance  from  Mackinac  to  Chicago  by  land  at  one 
hundred  and  twenty  leagues,  and  that  from  Chicago  to  Fort 
St.  Louis  at  eighty  leagues,  a  distance  two-thirds  as  great.  The 
supposition  that  Durantaye's  fort  was  on  the  St.  Joseph  River 
rather  than  the  modern  Chicago  harmonizes  well  both  with  the 
probabilities  of  the  case  and  the  distances  given  us  by  Tonty. 

The  foregoing  reasoning  is  not,  of  course,  absolutely  conclu- 
sive of  the  location  of  Durantaye's  "Fort  of  Chicagou."  It  is 
strengthened,  however,  by  one  other  consideration.  If  such  a 
fort  was  hi  fact  here  in  January,  1686,  what  had  happened  to  it 
in  the  interval  between  this  time  and  Cavalier  La  Salle's  visit 
in  the  autumn  of  1687  ?  Joutel's  narrative  of  the  adventures 
of  his  party  is  given  with  a  wealth  of  detail.  Both  in  the  autumn 
of  1687  and  again  in  the  spring  of  1688  the  traveler  stayed  at 
Chicago  for  several  days.  Not  only  does  the  narrative  show 

"  See  for  example  St.  Cosme's  statement  in  Shea,  Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the 
Mississippi,  59. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  49 

that  there  was  no  garrison  or  fort  here,  but  it  contains  no  men- 
tion of  such  an  establishment  at  any  previous  time. 

The  French  had  no  fort  at  Chicago  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
then,  and  if  they  had  one  in  the  seventeenth  century  it  could 
only  have  been  a  temporary  structure  which  quickly  disappeared. 
It  remains  to  suggest  an  explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  wide- 
spread belief  that  there  was  a  French  fort  at  Chicago.  It 
seems  evident  that  it  was  due  largely  to  the  cartographers,  who, 
residing  for  the  most  part  in  Europe,  found  themselves  at  a  loss 
to  interpret  correctly  the  narratives  of  the  explorers,  which  were 
themselves  oftentimes  confused  and  inaccurate,  or  lacking  in 
detail.  That  the  cartographers  often  labored  in  the  dark,  and 
that  their  work  was  frequently  erroneous,  will  be  apparent  from 
a  comparison  of  their  maps  with  those  of  an  authoritative 
modern  atlas.  The  representations  of  the  map-makers  can  no 
more  be  relied  upon  implicitly  than  can  the  narratives  of  the 
time;  and  there  is  as  much  reason  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other 
for  subjecting  them  to  critical  scrutiny. 

In  the  present  instance  the  erroneous  belief  in  the  existence 
of  a  French  fort  at  Chicago  in  the  eighteenth  century  probably 
originated  with  Father  Hennepin,  the  garrulous  companion  of 
La  Salle.  He  had  been  at  La  Salle's  Fort  Miami  on  the  St. 
Joseph,  and  had  passed  thence  with  his  leader  down  the  Kanka- 
kee  and  the  Illinois.  Yet  his  New  Discovery,  first  published 
in  1697,  contains  a  map98  showing  "Fort  des  Miamis"  at  the 
mouth  of  a  stream  emptying  into  the  southwestern  corner  of 
Lake  Michigan.  It  is  obvious  from  a  comparison  of  this  map 
with  the  one  in  Hennepin's  earlier  work,  the  Description  of 
Louisiana,  published  in  1683,"  that  this  representation  is  intended 
for  the  St.  Joseph  River  and  La  Salle's  Fort  Miami,  which,  by 
a  stupid  blunder,  have  been  transferred  from  the  southeastern 
to  the  southwestern  side  of  the  lake.  The  New  Discovery 

"  For  a  reproduction  of  this  map  see  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  IV,  251; 
Hennepin,  New  Discovery  (Thwaites  ed.),  I,  (facing)  22. 

"  For  a  reproduction  of  this  map  see  Winsor,  op.  tit.,  IV,  249;  Hennepin,  op.  tit., 
I,  frontispiece. 


50  CHICAGO  AXD  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

enjoyed  widespread  popularity,  and  numerous  editions  were 
issued  during  the  following  years,  not  only  in  French  but  also  in 
foreign  languages.  Hennepin's  maps,  too,  were  widely  copied 
in  other  works,  and  so  the  blunder  with  respect  to  the  location 
of  Fort  Miami  was  perpetuated.  Evidently  this  was  the  source 
of  the  error  of  Logan  and  of  the  many  who  in  later  times 
repeated  his  statements.  Ignorant  alike  of  the  fact  that  Fort 
Miami  had  stood  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  and  that  it 
had  been  destroyed  nearly  forty  years  before,  Logan  located  it 
at  Chicago  in  1718,  adding  the  interesting  information  that 
it  "was  not  regularly  garrisoned." 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  FOX  WARS:    A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT 

With  the  dawn  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  character  of  the 
annals  of  Chicago  undergoes  a  radical  change.  The  period  which 
had  just  closed  had  been  marked  by  great  activity  on  the  part  of 
the  French  in  the  adjoining  region.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century 
the  Illinois  River  had  constituted  their  chief  highway  from  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  Mississippi.  Upon  its  placid  bosom  trader, 
priest,  and  warrior  alike  had  plied  their  bark  canoes.  For  the 
time  being  the  Illinois  realized  La  Salle's  design  for  it  of  furnish- 
ing the  connecting  link  between  the  two  great  river  systems  of 
New  France.  The  Chicago  River  and  Portage  thus  became  an 
important  feature  in  the  geography  of  New  France,  although  it 
shared  with  the  Kankakee  the  sum  total  of  travel  by  the  Illinois 
River  route. 

But  already  forces  were  at  work  which  were  to  effect  a  com- 
plete readjustment  of  the  Indian  map  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin, 
to  shift  the  center  of  French  influence  hi  this  region  from  north- 
ern Illinois  to  its  lower  Mississippi  border,  and  to  furnish  one  of 
the  interesting  although  much-neglected  chapters  in  the  history 
of  the  long  struggle  between  France  and  England  for  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  continent.  An  adequate  understanding  of  the  charac- 
ter and  operation  of  these  influences  necessitates  a  brief  review 
of  the  circumstances  of  their  origin. 

In  the  year  after  the  founding  of  Quebec,  Champlain,  the 
"Father  of  New  France,"  engaged  in  an  enterprise  which  proved 
to  be  fraught  with  f ar-reaching  consequences  for  his  countrymen. 
To  gain  the  favor  of  the  dusky  neighbors  of  the  infant  colony  he 
accompanied  an  Algonquin  war  party  on  a  foray  against  then- 
ancient  foes,  the  Iroquois.100  The  latter  had  never  seen  a  fire- 

»••  For  this  expedition  and  its  results  see  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  IV, 
117-21;  167-68. 

Si 


52  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

arm,  and  their  warriors  fled  in  terror  before  the  death-dealing 
device  of  the  white  man.  The  Algonquins  gained  a  temporary 
triumph,  and  Champlain  gave  his  name  to  the  beautiful  lake 
which  still  bears  it.  But  of  greater  moment  was  it  that  New 
France,  almost  at  its  birth,  gained  the  undying  enmity  of  the 
Iroquois. 

Before  the  death  of  Champlain,  and  largely  due  to  his  zeal, 
the  French  had  extended  their  explorations  and  trading-houses 
to  the  Great  Lakes.  In  1634  Nicolet  passed  through  the  Straits 
of  Mackinac  to  Lake  Michigan,  traversed  Green  Bay,  and 
revealed  to  his  countrymen  the  region  now  known  as  Wisconsin. 
But  now  ensued  a  lull  hi  the  exploring  activities  of  the  French, 
and  soon  they  were  led  to  abandon  their  trading-posts  on  the 
lakes.  The  Iroquois  had  succeeded  in  establishing  friendly  rela- 
tions with  the  Dutch  along  the  Hudson,  and  by  them  were  pro- 
vided with  guns  and  ammunition.101  Thus  armed  they  turned 
upon  their  enemies.  The  French  had  at  first  refrained  from 
supplying  their  red  allies  with  guns,  and  these  now  fell  an  easy 
prey  to  the  combination  of  Iroquois  courage  and  Dutch  guns. 
In  the  ensuing  years  the  Hurons  were  ruined,  the  Eries  were 
exterminated,  the  region  to  the  west,  between  the  Ohio  and  the 
Great  Lakes,  was  turned  into  a  desert,  and  life  was  made  a  bur- 
den to  the  French  of  Canada. 

The  expansion  of  New  France  was  shortly  resumed,  but  the 
hostility  of  the  Iroquois  operated  powerfully  to  determine  its 
course.  By  their  victories  the  Iroquois  secured  possession  of 
the  upper  St.  Lawrence  and  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario.  The 
French  were  thus  prevented  from  expanding  southward.  Their 
natural  entrance  to  the  Great  Lakes  by  way  of  the  upper  St. 
Lawrence  was  closed,  and  they  were  forced  to  seek  the  upper 
lakes  by  the  Ottawa  River  route  to  Georgian  Bay.  The  alliance 
with  the  Algonquins,  begun  by  Champlain,  became  general,  and 
the  French  control  over  these  tribes  in  the  Great  Lakes  region 
was  firmly  established.  The  fur  trade  of  the  great  interior  thus 

»•  Winsor,  op.  tit.,  chap,  v;  Turner,  "Character  and  Influence  of  the  Indian  Trade  in 
Wisconsin,"  14. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT       53 

became  the  chief  financial  support  of  Canada.  On  the  other 
hand  the  English  succeeded  to  the  Dutch  trade  and  friendship 
with  the  Iroquois,  and,  working  through  them  as  middlemen,  com- 
peted actively  with  the  French  for  the  trade  of  the  Northwest. 

The  effect  of  this  combination  on  the  execution  of  La  Salle's 
designs  has  already  been  seen.  The  desire  of  the  English  to 
share  in  the  fur  trade  of  the  Northwest  furnished  the  principal 
motive  for  fomenting  the  wars  between  the  French  and  the 
Iroquois.102  Protection  of  his  Indian  allies  against  the  Iroquois 
war  parties  was  one  of  the  conditions  essential  to  the  maintenance 
of  La  Salle's  Illinois  colony.  The  active  competition  of  the  Eng- 
lish for  the  fur  trade  of  the  interior  shortly  produced  another 
result.  Before  the  advent  of  the  white  man  in  America  the 
Indian  had  been  economically  self-sustaining.103  Contact  with 
civilization  speedily  developed  in  him  new  wants  and  tastes 
without  developing  the  corresponding  ability  to  satisfy  them. 
In  the  fur-bearing  animals  of  his  country,  however,  he  possessed 
a  source  of  wealth  greatly  prized  by  the  European  peoples. 
Hence  the  basis  of  the  barter  which  constituted  the  Indian  trade. 
In  this  barter  the  red  man  should  have  occupied  a  position  of 
equality  with  the  white,  since  each  possessed  articles  valuable 
in  the  eyes  of  the  other.  But,  as  always  in  bargaining,  where 
the  parties  are  unequally  matched,  the  Indian,  less  intelligent 
and  less  shrewd  than  the  white  man,  and  dependent  on  the 
supplies  of  the  latter  for  his  very  existence,  got  the  worst  of  it. 
As  long  as  the  French  monopolized  the  trade  of  the  Northwest, 
so  long  was  their  control  over  the  Indians  absolute.  The 
entrance  of  the  English  into  competition  for  this  trade,  by  giving 
the  Indian  another  market  for  his  furs  and  another  source  of 
supply  of  the  goods  needed,  tended  to  free  him  from  this  control. 

About  the  time  of  La  Salle's  death  the  Fox  Indians  of  Wis- 
consin became  disgruntled  over  the  system  of  trade  carried  on 

"'Turner,  "Character  and  Influence  of  the  Fur  Trade  in  Wisconsin,"  in  Wisconsin 
State  Historical  Society  Proceedings  for  1889,  69. 

•«  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  II,  181,  261;  Turner,  Indian  Trade  in 
Wisconsin,  32,  68. 


54  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

by  the  French,  and  in  particular  over  the  attempt  of  the  latter 
to  establish  commercial  relations  with  the  Sioux,  their  ancient 
enemy  to  the  westward.104  By  means  of  their  strategic  position, 
both  geographically  with  reference  to  the  Fox- Wisconsin  water- 
way which  they  controlled,  and  with  respect  to  their  relations 
with  the  various  tribes  to  east  and  west,  they  found  it  possible 
to  deal  with  the  French  on  somewhat  even  terms.  In  1687  they 
threatened  to  pillage  the  post  at  Green  Bay,  and  before  the  end 
of  the  century  they  had  effectually  closed  the  Fox-Wisconsin 
highway  to  the  Mississippi  to  French  travel.  St.  Cosme's  party 
which  visited  Chicago  in  1698  desired  to  follow  this  route,  which 
would  have  been  both  easier  and  shorter.  They  were  forced  to 
take  the  "Chicago  road,"  however,  because  the  Foxes  would 
permit  no  one  to  pass  the  northern  route  for  fear  they  would  go 
to  their  enemies.105 

The  story  of  the  wars  thus  opened  presents  a  dreary  succes- 
sion of  cruel  deeds  and  bloody  scenes,  broken  by  intervals  of 
inactivity,  lasting  for  half  a  century.106  The  Foxes  guarded  with 
grim  tenacity  the  Fox- Wisconsin  highway;  they  seemed  deter- 
mined to  block  every  avenue  by  which  the  French  might  reach 
the  Sioux,  and  for  many  years  no  one  might  pass  between  Canada 
and  Louisiana  except  at  imminent  risk  of  his  life.  In  part 
owing  to  ancient  relationship,  in  part  because  of  the  logic  of  the 
situation,  the  Foxes  entered  into  friendly  relations  with  the 
Iroquois  and  were  in  turn  encouraged  by  them  in  their  contest 

>o4  Turner,  op.  cit.  There  were  two  reasons  for  their  opposition  to  this  trade.  By 
supplying  the  Sioux  with  firearms  and  goods  the  French  enabled  them  to  carry  on  their 
contest  with  the  Foxes  on  even  terms.  Furthermore  the  Foxes  desired  to  play  the  role  of 
middlemen  in  the  trade  between  the  French  and  the  Indians  farther  west.  As  early  as 
1675,  according  to  Marquette  (Jesuit  Relations,  LIX,  174),  the  Illinois  Indians  were  trading 
in  this  way  between  the  French  and  their  own  people,  and  already  were  acting  "like  the 
traders"  and  giving  them  hardly  more  for  their  furs  than  did  the  French  themselves. 

'«  Shea,  Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi,  49. 

'«« For  a  brief  summary  of  the  Fox  wars  and  their  results  see  Turner,  Indian  Trade 
in  Wisconsin,  34-39.  Fuller  and  more  important  accounts  are  given  by  Parkman,  A  Half 
Century  of  Conflict,  and  Hebberd,  Wisconsin  under  the  Dominion  of  France.  The  latter 
takes  issue  with  Parkman  in  certain  important  respects.  A  large  number  of  the  original 
documents  pertaining  to  the  subject  are  printed  in  O'Callaghan,  New  York  Colonial 
Documents,  Vols.  IX,  X,  and  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  Vols.  XVI,  XVII. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT       55 

with  the  French.  For  a  like  reason  they  made  war  upon  the 
Illinois,  the  faithful  allies  of  the  French,  raiding  their  territory 
again  and  again,  sometimes  even  to  the  walls  of  Fort  Chartres, 
the  great  French  stronghold  of  the  upper  Mississippi  Valley. 
The  Foxes  were  fewer  but  no  less  courageous  than  the  terrible 
Iroquois,  and  the  role  they  now  played  in  the  West  was  curiously 
similar  to  that  so  long  enacted  on  a  larger  scale  by  the  Iroquois 
toward  the  French.  Their  opposition  became  so  intolerable  to 
the  French  that  repeated  attempts  were  made  to  exterminate 
them.  The  Foxes  were  terribly  punished,  and  for  a  long  time 
their  power  seemed  fairly  broken,  the  survivors  being  driven  to 
abandon  their  homes  in  Wisconsin  and  seek  refuge  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  But  they  were  not  exterminated,  and  the  French 
were  at  last  compelled  to  give  up  the  attempt.  The  dominion 
of  France  in  the  Northwest  was  itself  drawing  to  a  close;  and 
to  its  downfall  the  long  struggle  with  the  Foxes,  with  its  conse- 
quent drain  upon  the  treasury  of  Canada  and  the  disaffection 
for  the  French  engendered  by  it  among  the  northwestern  tribes, 
materially  contributed. 

The  first  great  event  in  the  fifty-year  contest  occurred  at 
Detroit  in  1712.  Before  this  post  there  appeared  hi  the  early 
summer  of  that  year  a  band  of  a  thousand  Outagamies  or  Foxes, 
three  hundred  of  them  warriors,  the  remainder  women  and 
children.  Of  the  siege,  and  the  destruction  of  the  Foxes  at  the 
hands  of  the  French  and  their  red  allies,  which  ensued,  two 
accounts  differing  widely  from  each  other  have  come  down  to 
us.107  The  official  report  of  Dubuisson,  the  French  commandant 
at  Detroit,  represents  that  the  Foxes  came  with  hostile  intent, 
which  was  manifested  in  their  conduct  from  the  moment  of  their 
arrival.  This  report  has  been  accepted  by  Parkman,  whose 
account  of  the  siege  is  in  effect  a  paraphrase  of  it.108  Yet  in 
many  respects  its  reliability  is  open  to  question.  The  very  fact 
that  the  Fox  warriors  came  incumbered  with  seven  hundred 
women  and  children  suffices  to  show  that  they  were  not  engaged 

••'  For  the  documents  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  267  ff. 
'••  Parkman,  Half  Century  of  Conflict,  chap.  xii. 


56  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

in  a  hostile  expedition.  The  other  contemporary  account  of  the 
affair,  by  DeLery,  asserts  it  was  due  to  a  plot  on  the  part  of 
the  French,  designed  to  lure  the  obnoxious  tribe  to  its  destruc- 
tion.109 This  account  differs  from  Dubuisson's  report  in  other 
respects  as  well;  among  other  things  DeLery  represents  that  the 
Foxes  evacuated  their  fort  on  the  eighth  day  of  the  siege,  while 
Dubuisson  states  that  this  occurred  on  the  nineteenth  day.  It 
seems  impossible  at  this  day,  in  view  of  our  limited  information, 
to  decide  between  the  two  conflicting  versions.  Concerning  the 
main  facts  of  the  destruction  of  the  Foxes,  however,  the  two 
accounts  agree  fairly  well;  since  Dubuisson's  is  that  of  an  eye- 
witness who  was  at  the  same  time  the  commander  of  the  French, 
and  moreover  since  it  is  much  more  detailed  than  DeLery 's 
account,  the  following  narrative  of  the  siege  is  based  upon  it. 

The  Foxes  constructed  a  fort  within  fifty  paces  of  the  French 
post  and  began  to  conduct  themselves  with  great  insolence. 
Since  Dubuisson's  allies  were  absent  upon  their  hunting  expedi- 
tion, he  felt  compelled  to  submit  to  their  indignities,  until  a 
party  sought  to  kill  two  of  the  French  within  the  fort  itself. 
Then  the  commandant  interfered  and  cleared  the  fort,  but  he 
was  still  compelled  to  temporize  until  the  arrival  of  the  Ottawa 
and  other  bands  for  whom  he  had  hastily  sent. 

Six  hundred  of  the  allied  warriors  shortly  arrived,  burning 
with  z.al  for  the  destruction  of  the  hated  Foxes,  whose  warfare 
had  been  directed  in  turn  against  all  the  northwestern  tribes 
except  the  Sacs,  Kickapoos,  and  Mascoutens,  their  allies."0  The 
French  distributed  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  warriors  and 
the  contest  was  promptly  joined.  Their  war  cries  "made  the 
earth  tremble,"  but  evidently  the  Foxes  were  not  similarly 

"» Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  293-95. 

"» The  story  of  an  affair  which  occurred  in  the  vicinity  of  Chicago  affords  a  concrete 
illustration  of  the  misdeeds  by  which  these  tribes  incurred  the  enmity  of  their  neighbors. 
Three  Miami  squaws  who  had  been  captured  by  the  Iroquois  had  effected  their  escape  in 
consequence  of  the  defeat  administered  to  the  Senecas  by  Denonville's  expedition  in  1687. 
Returning  to  their  homes,  the  squaws  encountered  at  the  River  "Chikagou"  some  Mas- 
coutens, who  shortly  before  had  assassinated  two  Frenchmen.  The  fear  that  the  women 
would  reveal  this  affair  led  the  assassins  to  "break  their  heads."  To  add  insult  to  injury 
they  carried  away  the  scalps  of  the  women  and  gave  them  to  the  Miamis  to  eat,  saying 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT       57 

affected,  for  they  replied  in  kind  less  than  a  pistol  shot  away,  and 
the  firing  began.  The  Foxes  were  badly  outnumbered  and  in 
sore  straits  for  food  and  water,  but  their  ancient  reputation  for 
bravery  was  not  belied.  The  French  erected  towers  from  which 
they  fired  down  into  the  hostile  camp,  driving  the  Foxes  to  seek 
refuge  in  holes  in  the  ground.  In  this  fashion  the  siege  was 
pressed  for  nineteen  days,  with  alternations  of  hope  and  despair 
on  the  part  of  the  contestants. 

At  one  time  the  Foxes,  perishing  from  thirst,  adopted  a  ruse 
which  smacks  of  the  Homeric  age.  Covering  their  ramparts 
with  scarlet  blankets  and  erecting  twelve  red  standards  to 
attract  attention,  they  addressed  their  opponents  with  taunting 
speeches.  The  great  war  chief  of  the  Pottawatomies  mounted 
one  of  the  towers  and  began  an  eloquent  reply,  in  which  the 
character  of  the  English,  who  were  regarded  as  the  sponsors  of 
the  Foxes,  was  severely  handled.  Meanwhile  under  cover  of 
this  oratorical  contest  the  Foxes  had  crept  out  to  secure  a  supply 
of  water;  seeing  which,  Dubuisson  cut  short  the  speech  with  an 
order  to  recommence  firing  and  the  chieftain's  further  opinion 
of  the  English  was  forever  lost  to  the  world. 

The  Foxes  soon  made  overtures  to  surrender,  but  the  red  foe 
was  implacable  for  their  destruction  and  the  French  commander, 
reflecting  that  they  had  been  set  on  by  the  English  to  destroy 
him,  and  that  "war  and  pity  do  not  well  agree  together," 
abandoned  them  to  their  fate.  Taking  advantage  of  a  stormy 
night  the  survivors  made  their  escape  and  fled.  Dubuisson 
spurred  on  the  pursuit,  however,  and  they  were  brought  to  bay 
a  few  miles  away.  A  second  siege  ensued,  terminating  four  days 
later  in  an  abject  surrender.  No  quarter  was  granted  to  the 
vanquished  warriors;  all  but  a  hundred  were  killed,  and  these 
were  tied,  being  reserved,  evidently,  for  future  torture.  This 

that  they  were  scalps  of  the  Iroquois.  For  thus  causing  the  Miamis  to  eat  their  own  flesh 
the  Great  Spirit  afflicted  the  Mascoutens  with  a  malady  which  caused  them  and  their 
children  to  die.  Not  satisfied  with  this  divine  vengeance,  however,  a  party  of  Miamis  came 
to  Perrot  in  1690  to  tell  him  their  story  and  obtain  his  assistance  in  a  war  against  the  Mas- 
coutens. The  French  were  still  engrossed  in  their  struggle  with  the  Iroquois,  however, 
and  the  Miamis  were  compelled  to  nurse  their  vengeance  until  a  more  opportune  time 
(Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  145-46). 


58  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

pleasure  was  denied  the  victors,  however,  for  all  succeeded  in 
making  their  escape.  The  conquerors  returned  to  the  fort  with 
the  enslaved  women  and  children,  where  "their  amusement  was" 
to  shoot  four  or  five  each  day.  The  Hurons  spared  not  a  single 
one  of  their  captives.  "In  this  manner,"  concludes  Dubuisson, 
"came  to  an  end,  Sir,  these  two  wicked  nations,  who  so  badly 
afflicted  and  troubled  all  the  country.  Our  Rev.  Father 
chaunted  a  grand  mass  to  render  thanks  to  God  for  having  pre- 
served us  from  the  enemy." 

But  this  pious  thanksgiving  proved  premature.  The  Foxes 
had  suffered  a  great  disaster,  but  only  a  portion  of  the  tribe  had 
been  involved  in  it,  and  of  this  portion  one-third  of  the  warriors 
had  escaped.  The  immediate  result  was  that  they  turned  on 
their  foes  with  redoubled  fury.  Father  Marest,  writing  only  a 
week  after  Dubuisson's  report  was  made,  points  out  that,  with 
their  allies,  the  Foxes  still  number  five  hundred  warriors.  The 
French  in  this  region  will  always  have  cause  to  fear  an  attack 
and  travelers  will  always  be  in  danger;  "for  the  Foxes,  Kicka- 
poos,  and  Mascoutens  are  found  everywhere,  and  they  are  a 
people  without  pity  and  without  reason.""1 

The  good  Father's  fears  were  amply  justified.  DeLery  tells 
us  that  as  soon  as  the  Mascoutens  and  Kickapoos  of  the  larger 
villages  heard  of  the  destruction  of  their  allies,  they  sent  out 
war  parties  to  Green  Bay,  Detroit,  and  to  all  the  routes  of  travel. 
Their  Indian  foes  fled  hi  terror  before  them,  and  this  went  on 
until  Louvigny  brought  about  peace  four  years  later.112  These 
are  the  statements  of  an  enemy  of  Dubuisson,  but  they  are 
amply  corroborated  by  official  sources."3  So  great  was  the  fear 
of  the  Foxes  on  the  part  of  the  other  tribes  that  they  preferred 
death  from  starvation  in  their  cabins  to  the  risk  of  meeting  them 
on  their  hunting  expeditions.  It  was  this  interference  with  the 
prosecution  of  the  fur  trade  that  chiefly  excited  the  anger  of  the 
French.  Ramezay,  the  acting  governor  of  Canada,  observes  in 

«•  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  a8g. 

"» Ibid.,  2Q3-95. 

"»  See  letters  of  Ramezay  and  Veudreuil,  ibid.,  300-307. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT      59 

a  letter  of  September,  1714,  that  the  merchants  will  this  year 
have  a  gloomy  confirmation  of  these  conditions,  seeing  how  little 
peltry  has  come  down  to  Mackinac. 

In  this  same  year  the  Foxes  fell  upon  the  Illinois  and  killed 
or  carried  off  seventy-seven  of  them.114  Veudreuil,  the  governor, 
had  decided  the  preceding  year  that  the  Foxes  must  be  destroyed 
and  had  intrusted  the  task  to  Louvigny,  the  former  commander 
at  Mackinac.115  It  was  planned  to  establish  peace  between  the 
Miamis  and  the  Illinois,  who  were  enemies  in  common  of  the 
Foxes,  and  then  to  lead  all  the  northwestern  tribes  friendly  to 
the  French  against  the  Foxes  and  their  allies."6  This  project 
failed  of  execution,  however,  owing  to  the  illness  of  Louvigny.117 
De  Lignery  was  therefore  substituted  as  the  leader,  and  a  more 
elaborate  campaign  was  devised.  The  Miamis,  Ouiatanons, 
Illinois,  and  Detroit  Indians  were  to  rendezvous  at  Chicago  under 
French  leadership  in  the  summer  of  1715,  while  the  coureurs  de 
bois,  the  Ottawas,  and  the  other  northern  tribes  were  to  be 
gathered  at  Mackinac  under  De  Lignery.  The  departure  of  the 
forces  from  these  places  was  to  be  so  timed  that  both  would 
arrive  at  the  Fox  fort  at  the  end  of  August.  The  detachment 
which  arrived  first  was  to  invest  the  fort  and  then  await  the 
arrival  of  the  second  corps  before  attempting  its  reduction.  To 
complete  the  plan,  agents  had  been  sent  to  the  Sioux  to  urge 
them  not  only  to  refuse  the  Foxes  an  asylum,  but  to  join  the 
French  in  making  war  upon  them. 

The  campaign  thus  elaborately  projected  utterly  miscarried, 
but  its  story  deserves  a  place  hi  the  history  of  early  Chicago, 
none  the  less.  The  choice  of  Chicago  as  the  place  of  rendezvous 
of  the  southern  tribes  was  due,  aside  from  the  obvious  conveni- 
ence of  its  location,  to  the  game  of  all  sorts  which  abounded 
here,  on  which  the  savages  could  easily  subsist  while  awaiting 
the  arrival  of  the  Detroit  contingent."8  An  epidemic  of  measles 
assailed  the  Ouiatanons,  and  the  fickle  savages  promptly  charged 

"« Parkman,  Half  Century  of  Conflict,  chap.  xiv. 

"s  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  298. 

"*Ibid.,  303-7;  319-20.  «»  Ibid.,  312-14.  »*  Ibid.,  319. 


60  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

the  deaths  which  resulted  to  the  French,  who  had  come  to  lead 
them  to  the  place  of  rendezvous."9  They  were  cajoled  into 
promising,  however,  that  such  as  were  able  would  go  to  Chicago, 
and  a  half-dozen  Frenchmen  were  left  among  them  to  insure 
their  arrival  by  the  tenth  of  August.  The  remainder  of  the 
French  went  on  to  rouse  the  Illinois  and  lead  them  to  the 
meeting-place. 

Meanwhile  the  measles  continued  to  afflict  the  Ouiatanons, 
the  death  rate  mounting  to  fifteen  or  twenty  a  day.  Instead  of 
the  two  hundred  warriors  that  had  been  promised,  the  little  band 
of  Frenchmen  were  forced  to  depart  on  the  overland  march  to 
Chicago  with  only  one-tenth  as  many.120  Their  food  supply  was 
scanty,  and  the  savages  were  restrained  from  hunting  along  the 
way  by  their  fear  of  the  Foxes,  whose  war  trails  leading  toward 
Detroit  were  encountered.  When  they  reached  Chicago  they 
found  the  Illinois  and  Detroit  savages  had  not  yet  arrived;  nor 
were  there  any  signs  of  the  canoes  which  were  to  have  come  from 
Mackinac  to  inform  them  regarding  the  march  against  the  Foxes 
from  that  point.  To  add  to  their  troubles  two  of  their  party 
were  attacked  by  the  measles,  whereupon  the  whole  band  of 
Indians  deserted  the  Frenchmen  and  returned  to  their  homes. 
The  latter,  after  waiting  four  or  five  days  beyond  the  time  set 
for  the  arrival  of  their  comrades  with  the  Illinois  contingent,  set 
out  to  meet  them.  In  this  they  failed  because  of  their  ignorance 
of  the  route,  and  the  little  party  found  rest  for  the  time  being 
with  the  Indians  at  Starved  Rock. 

Meanwhile,  what  had  happened  to  the  Illinois  Indians  ?  The 
Frenchmen  who  had  gone  from  the  Ouiatanons  to  rouse  the 
Illinois  received  a  royal  welcome  from  the  Indians  of  the  Rock, 
and,  collecting  their  warriors,  led  a  band  of  four  hundred  and 
fifty  to  Chicago,  which  was  reached  on  the  seventeenth  of 
August.  The  leader  was  much  mortified  to  find  no  one  there 
and  to  get  no  news  from  Mackinac.  To  divert  the  savages  and 
if  possible  to  obtain  news,  scouts  were  sent  out  to  a  distance  of 

11  •  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  322-25. 
-'•Ibid. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT      01 

thirty  leagues.  Their  efforts  were  fruitless,  however.  On  their 
return  ten  days  later  without  any  tidings,  the  Indians  could 
be  restrained  no  longer.  They  dispersed  and  the  Frenchmen 
returned  to  Starved  Rock,  where  they  found  their  countrymen 
whom  they  had  left  among  the  Ouiatanons. 

One  further  act  remains  to  complete  this  series  of  misfor- 
tunes. The  coureurs  de  bois  assembled  at  Mackinac,  but  the 
failure  of  the  supplies  which  were  expected  from  Montreal  to 
arrive  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  northern  end  of  the  expedi- 
tion.121 This  explains  the  non-arrival  of  the  canoes  at  Chicago, 
which  had  so  disappointed  the  Ouiatanon  and  Illinois  detach- 
ments. In  ignorance  of  these  various  miscarriages  the  Detroit 
contingent  arrived.  From  Chicago  they  proceeded  to  the 
Illinois  village  at  the  Rock,  expecting  to  find  there  the  French 
leaders  of  the  enterprise.123  They,  however,  were  now  at  Kas- 
kaskia,  overcome  with  illness.  They  could  only  send  a  mes- 
senger to  urge  the  Illinois  to  join  the  Hurons  and  others  who 
composed  the  expedition  in  a  foray  against  the  Mascoutens  and 
Kickapoos,  allies  of  the  Foxes,  who  were  hunting  "along  a  cer- 
tain river."  This  was  done,  and  in  November  the  combined 
bands,  accompanied  by  only  two  Frenchmen,  fell  upon  the 
Mascoutens.  The  report  of  what  followed  must  be  taken  with 
the  usual  allowance  for  statements  which  have  an  Indian 
origin.123  According  to  their  story  they  attacked  the  Mascoutens, 
who  were  stationed  on  a  rock,  and  after  a  sharp  battle  forced 
their  position,  killing  one  hundred  warriors  and  taking  forty- 
seven  prisoners,  without  counting  the  women  and  children.  To 
conceal  the  route  of  their  retreat  the  party  went  down  the  river 

'» Ibid.,  339- 

"•Ibid.,  341.  That  they  came  to  Chicago  is  not  directly  stated,  but  I  consider  this 
a  fair  inference  from  this  and  the  preceding  documents. 

••»  It  is  true  there  were  two  Frenchmen  with  the  party,  as  already  stated.  But  these 
had  a  direct  interest  in  permitting  the  Indian  reports  to  go  uncorrected;  one  of  them  was. 
in  fact,  promoted  for  his  participation  in  this  expedition,  and  the  other  was  an  outlawed 
bushranger  among  the  Illinois,  whose  "reprobate  life"  had  been  the  subject  of  an  indignant 
letter  from  the  governor  to  the  French  ministry  only  the  year  before  (Wisconsin  Historical. 
Collections,  XVI,  302-3).  Now,  apparently,  a  virtue  was  made  of  necessity,  and  he  was 
urged  to  use  his  influence  over  the  Illinois  to  induce  them  to  join  the  Hurons  in  the  proposed 
expedition. 


62  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

in  canoes  a  distance  of  twenty-five  leagues.  In  spite  of  this 
precaution  they  were  overtaken  on  the  eleventh  day  by  four 
hundred  men,  "the  elite  of  the  Reynards."  Though  they  num- 
bered but  eighty,  and  were  incumbered  by  the  prisoners  and 
wounded,  they  asserted  that  in  a  battle  lasting  from  dawn  till 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  they  defeated  the  Foxes  with 
great  loss  and  pursued  them  for  several  hours. 

In  the  following  year,  1716,  the  delayed  project  against  the 
Foxes  was  executed.  Louvigny  was  again  intrusted  with  the 
command.124  He  left  Montreal  the  first  of  May  with  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  Frenchmen,  and  two  hundred  more  were 
to  join  him  at  Mackinac.125  While  en  route  they  were  joined 
by  about  four  hundred  Indian  allies,  and  the  whole  party  pro- 
ceeded by  way  of  Mackinac  and  Green  Bay  to  the  country  of 
the  Foxes.  The  latter  had  gathered  to  the  number  of  five 
hundred  warriors  and  three  thousand  women  and  children  in  a 
fort  protected  by  three  rows  of  oaken  palisades  and  a  ditch, 
located  on  the  Fox  River  some  distance  from  Green  Bay.  This 
Louvigny  besieged  in  regular  European  fashion,  with  trenches 
and  mining  operations.  The  Foxes  fought  with  spirit,  although, 
according  to  Charlevoix,  both  besiegers  and  besieged  believed 
them  to  be  on  the  brink  of  destruction.  At  the  end  of  three 
days,  however,  a  surrender  was  arranged,  terms  were  granted 
the  besieged,  and  the  invading  army  marched  away. 

The  reason  for  this  surprising  outcome  of  the  great  expedition 
remains  a  matter  of  doubt  to  the  present  day.  Louvigny 
asserted  that  the  terms  he  imposed  were  so  harsh  that  no  one 
believed  the  Foxes  would  accede  to  them;  and  further,  that  his 
allies  approved  of  the  arrangement  made.126  The  first  of  these 
statements  is  not  worthy  of  serious  attention,  and  the  last  the 
French  Indians  themselves  indignantly  denied.127  The  Fox 

«4  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  328-30. 

"s  Ibid.,  342.  For  secondary  accounts  of  this  expedition  see  Hebberd,  Wisconsin 
under  the  Dominion  of  France,  94  ff.;  Charlevoix,  History  of  New  France  (Shea  transl.), 
V,  305  ff. 

«•«  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  343. 

"'  Charlevoix,  History  of  New  France,  V,  306. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT      63 

chieftain,  Ouashala,  later  asserted  that  they  could  easily  have 
escaped  by  means  of  a  sortie  by  night,  and  that  this  had  already 
been  resolved  upon.  Possibly  the  real  truth  is  that  Louvigny 
was  hampered  by  his  instructions  and  that  he  feared  to  press  the 
Foxes  to  the  last  extremity.  It  may  be  also  that  the  reported 
approach  of  three  hundred  allies  of  the  Foxes  influenced  his 
decision.  Whatever  the  reason,  the  results  from  the  expedi- 
tion were  meager.  The  Foxes  did  not  fulfil  the  terms  of 
their  agreement  with  Louvigny,  and  although  they  refrained 
from  making  war  on  the  French  Indians  for  a  time,  the  situ- 
ation in  the  Northwest  continued  to  be  as  intolerable  to  the 
French  as  ever. 

The  lull  which  followed  Louvigny's  expedition  was  soon 
broken,  and  the  restless  feuds  between  the  Illinois  and  the  Foxes 
and  their  allies  were  renewed.  In  1719  the  Foxes  were  again  at 
war  with  the  Illinois,  who  seem  this  time  to  have  been  the  aggres- 
sors.128 When  Charlevoix  passed  down  the  Kankakee  and 
Illinois  rivers  in  1721,  he  devoted  a  considerable  portion  of  his 
journal  to  a  description  of  the  dangers  encountered  along  the 
way.129  At  Starved  Rock  he  was  filled  with  horror  at  the  spec- 
tacle of  the  remains  of  two  prisoners  who  had  been  burned 
recently.  At  Lake  Peoria  he  was  informed  by  some  Canadians 
that  his  party  was  in  the  midst  of  four  Fox  war  parties.  A  band 
of  Illinois  had  recently  encountered  one  of  them,  and  each  party 
had  taken  a  prisoner.  Here  as  at  Starved  Rock  the  priest  was 
horrified  by  the  spectacle  of  the  wretch  whom  the  Illinois  had 
tortured  to  death.  Notwithstanding  Charlevoix's  sturdy  escort, 
commanded  by  the  gallant  St.  Ange,130  it  was  considered  danger- 
ous for  the  party  to  proceed.  It  was  strengthened  somewhat 
and  the  resolution  was  formed  to  press  on,  but  the  horrors  he 
had  seen  and  heard  so  affected  the  good  Father  that  for  a  week 
he  was  unable  to  sleep  soundly. 

"•  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  381,  429,  445,  447. 

"» Charlevoix,  Histoire  .  .  .  .  dela  Nouvelle  France,  VI,  letters  of  September  17  and 
October  5,  1721. 

"«  For  an  account  of  St.  Ange's  career  in  Illinois  see  Mason,  "Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century,"  in  Chapters  from  Illinois  History. 


64  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  Illinois  now  captured  and  burned  the  nephew  of  Oua- 
shala,  the  principal  war  chief  of  the  Foxes.  The  latter  avenged 
this  by  laving  siege  the  next  year  to  the  Illinois  stronghold  of 
Starved  Rock.  They  starved  the  defenders  into  a  surrender, 
and  then,  to  placate  the  French,  spared  their  lives.131  Returning 
to  their  own  territory  the  leaders  hastened  to  Green  Bay  to 
justify  to  the  French  commandant  their  action  in  going  to  war. 
Montigny  blustered  and  assured  them  that  whenever  Onontio132 
wished  it  they  should  "indeed  die  and  perish  without  resource." 
To  the  French  minister,  however,  Veudreuil  admitted,  in  a 
report  of  the  following  year,  that  the  Illinois  directly,  and  indi- 
rectly the  French,  through  their  neglect  to  secure  justice  to  the 
Foxes,  were  responsible  for  the  hostilities.133  It  is  evident  from 
the  reports  of  the  French  themselves  that  the  Foxes  were  fre- 
quently treated  unjustly  by  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies, 
and  that  hi  spite  of  this  and  their  natural  ferocity,  they  at  times 
displayed  admirable  patience  in  enduring  the  impositions  heaped 
upon  them. 

For  several  years  following  1725  divided  counsels  prevailed 
among  the  French  with  respect  to  the  policy  to  be  pursued 
toward  the  Foxes.134  Some  argued  that  they  should  be  destroyed. 
Others  agreed  as  to  the  desirability  of  this,  but,  dubious  as  to  its 
practicability,  counseled  a  policy  of  conciliation.  The  French 

»•  For  the  original  documents  pertaining  to  this  affair  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collec- 
tions, XVI,  418-22,  428-31. 

"*  The  Indian  designation  for  the  French  Governor.  It  was  later  applied  also  to  the 
French  King. 

«»  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  420-30.  An  inaccurate  description  of  the 
affray  at  Starved  Rock  is  given  by  Charlevoix  (History  of  New  France,  VI,  71).  He  states 
that  the  Illinois  beat  off  the  Foxes  with  a  loss  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  men,  having 
themselves  lost  only  twenty.  He  adds  that  the  attack  determined  the  Illinois  to  abandon 
the  Rock  and  Lake  Peoria,  and  join  their  kinsmen  who  had  already  sought  refuge  at  Fort 
Chartres.  No  check  whatever  now  existed  to  the  raids  of  the  Foxes  along  the  Illinois 
River,  and  communication  between  Canada  and  Louisiana  by  this  route  became  more 
impracticable  than  ever.  It  is  plain,  however,  in  spite  of  Charlevoix's  statements,  that 
there  were  Illinois  at  the  Rock  during  the  following  years.  For  references  to  them  between 
1730  and  1736  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  no,  183,  251.  At  the  latter  date 
the  Illinois  village  numbered  fifty  warriors. 

'»  See  Parkman,  Half  Century  of  Conflict,  chap.  xiv.  For  the  original  documents  see 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  Vol.  XVI. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT      65 

king  first  ordered  their  destruction,  and  then  that  they  be  let 
alone.  A  fitful  peace  was  patched  up  for  a  time,  but  the  receipt 
of  information  that  the  Foxes  had  promised  English  emissaries 
to  kill  all  the  French  decided  the  latter  to  make  war  in  earnest.135 

The  Foxes  resisted  desperately  the  attempt  to  exterminate 
them.136  De  Lignery  led  an  expedition  from  Montreal  in  1728, 
which  on  its  arrival  in  Wisconsin  numbered  five  hundred  French- 
men and  over  a  thousand  Indians.  To  this  invasion  of  her 
future  sister  state  Illinois  contributed  a  force  of  twenty  French- 
men and  five  hundred  Indians,  who  came  by  way  of  the  Chicago 
Portage.  The  results  of  this  great  effort,  however,  were  but 
slight.  The  Foxes  abandoned  their  villages  and  retired  before 
the  French,  who  succeeded  in  capturing  two  squaws  and  an  old 
man.  The  former  were  enslaved  and  the  latter  was  roasted  at 
a  slow  fire,  to  the  scandal  of  Father  Crespel,  who  expressed  his 
surprise  to  the  tormentors  at  the  pleasure  they  derived  from  the 
performance. 

Having  burned  the  villages  and  ravaged  the  cornfields  De 
Lignery  retired,  confessing  his  failure  and  placing  the  responsi- 
bility for  it  on  the  Illinois  contingent,  who  should  have  come  by 
way  of  the  Wisconsin  Portage  instead  of  by  Chicago,  and  thus 
have  taken  the  Foxes  in  the  rear.  The  forts  upon  Lake  Pepin 
and  Green  Bay  were  evacuated,  and  Wisconsin  was  temporarily 
abandoned  to  the  red  man.  The  only  recourse  now  before  the 
French  was  to  rouse  against  the  Foxes  the  neighboring  tribes, 
who  by  constantly  harassing  them  might  gradually  wear  them 
down.137  This  policy  proved  effective,  and  in  1729  the  Foxes 
sued  for  peace.  It  was  not  granted,  however,  and  meanwhile  a 
chain  of  circumstances  arising  from  De  Lignery's  humiliation 
of  1728  was  weaving  for  them  a  disaster  more  terrible  than  that 
which  had  befallen  them  at  Detroit  in  1712. 

'«  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVI,  476-77. 

•*  For  the  facts  about  ,the  ensuing  period  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  Vol. 
XVII,  editorial  introduction  and  accompanying  documents.  Father  Crespel's  report  of 
De  Lignery's  expedition  is  printed  in  Smith,  History  of  Wisconsin,  I,  330  ff . 

"7  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  xiii. 


66  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

When  the  French  evacuated  Fort  Beauharnois138  on  Lake 
Pepin  in  1728,  they  attempted  to  escape  down  the  Mississippi 
to  Fort  Chartres,  but  were  taken  captive  by  the  Kickapoos  and 
Mascoutens,  hitherto  the  allies  of  the  Foxes,  who  had  settled  in 
eastern  Iowa.139  During  the  long  captivity  that  ensued  Father 
Guignas,  one  of  the  prisoners,  succeeded  in  inducing  their  cap- 
tors to  desert  the  Foxes  and  sue  for  peace  with  the  French.140 
Weakened  by  this  defection  the  Foxes  sought,  by  passing  around 
the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan  and  through  the  country  of 
the  Ouiatanons,  who  were  well  disposed  toward  them,  to  escape 
to  the  Iroquois.141  The  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutens  reported  this 
design  to  the  nearest  French  posts,  but,  doubting  the  fidelity 
of  their  new  allies,  the  settlers  around  Fort  Chartres  for  a  time 
declined  to  take  the  field. 

Confirmation  shortly  arrived  in  the  shape  of  information  that 
the  Foxes  had  captured  some  of  the  Illinois  near  Starved  Rock 
and  had  burned  the  son  of  the  great  chief  of  the  Cahokias.  On 
this  St.  Ange,  the  commandant  of  Fort  Chartres,  conducted  an 
expedition  against  them.  Parties  of  French  and  of  savages 
gathered  from  all  directions.  From  Fort  St.  Joseph  came 
De  Villiers  and  his  son,  the  latter  a  mere  youth,  destined,  a 
quarter  of  a  century  later  at  Fort  Necessity,  to  defeat  and  cap- 
ture the  youthful  George  Washington. 

In  all  some  twelve  or  thirteen  hundred  French  and  Indians 
surrounded  the  doomed  Foxes.  The  latter  had  intrenched 
themselves  in  a  grove  on  the  bank  of  a  small  river,  some  distance 
to  the  southeast  of  Starved  Rock.142  Under  the  direction  of  the 

«•  Named  for  Charles  Beauharnois,  governor  of  New  France  from  1726  to  1747.  He 
was  reputed  to  be  the  natural  son  of  Louis  XIV,  and  it  has  sometimes  been  said,  though 
apparently  incorrectly,  that  the  Empress  Josephine  was  descended  from  him. 

J»  Narrative  of  De  Boucherville,  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  36  ff. 

"•Ibid.,  36 ff.,  no. 

M»  For  the  documents  pertaining  to  this  affair  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  V, 
106-7;  and  XVII,  100-101,  109-30. 

•«•  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  in,  115,  129.  J.  F.  Steward  (Lost  Mara- 
mech  and  Earliest  Chicago)  locates  this  fort  on  the  Fox  River,  in  Kendall  County,  Illinois. 
This  does  not  harmonize,  however,  with  Hocquart's  letter  to  the  French  minister,  January 
iS»  1731.  describing  the  place  and  the  destruction  of  the  Foxes. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT       67 

elder  De  Villiers  the  siege  was  pressed  with  vigor.  Both  forces 
suffered  from  lack  of  food,  but  the  necessity  of  the  Foxes  was 
naturally  the  greater.  On  the  twenty-third  day  of  the  siege, 
under  cover  of  a  cold  and  stormy  night  they  attempted  to  make 
their  escape.  Their  design  was  revealed  by  the  crying  of  the 
children  and  the  besiegers  promptly  pursued  them.  As  soon 
as  daylight  made  it  possible  to  distinguish  friend  from  foe  an  in- 
discriminate slaughter  began.  The  Fox  warriors,  weakened  by 
hunger  and  long  exertion  and  surrounded  by  overwhelming 
numbers,  maintained  their  courage  to  the  end.  The  women  and 
children  and  old  men  walked  in  front,  and  the  warriors  stationed 
themselves  in  the  rear  between  them  and  the  enemy.  But  their 
line  was  speedily  broken.  Two  hundred  of  the  warriors  were 
killed,  besides  an  equal  number  of  women  and  children.  Some 
four  or  five  hundred  of  the  latter  were  taken  prisoners  and  scat- 
tered as  slaves  among  the  various  tribes.  A  few  of  the  warriors, 
by  throwing  away  their  arms  and  ammunition,  succeeded  in 
escaping,  but  in  such  a  plight  that  their  fate  was  little  preferable 
to  that  of  the  slain. 

The  triumph  of  the  French  over  the  foe  that  had  defied  them 
for  a  generation  was,  apparently,  complete.  Even  their  Indian 
allies  had  been  moved  to  pity  by  the  plight  of  the  Foxes,  but  no 
humane  sentiment  animated  the  subjects  of  the  Most  Christian 
King.143  The  extirpation  of  the  hated  race  was  decreed,  and  the 
savage  allies  were  spurred  on  to  the  work  of  destruction.  By 
drawing  in  the  slaves  from  the  nations  to  which  they  had  been 
distributed,144  the  surviving  Foxes  managed  to  assemble  a  village 
of  forty-five  cabins  the  year  after  their  overthrow  at  the  hands 
of  De  Villiers.  The  Hurons  of  Detroit,  ancient  enemies  of  the 
Foxes,  assumed  the  task  of  destroying  this  remnant  of  the  tribe, 
and  sent  an  invitation  to  the  band  of  Christian  Iroquois  at  the 
Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains  to  join  them  in  the  work.  They 
accepted,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1731  a  band  of  forty-seven 

MI  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  xiv,  167-60,. 

'"The  Illinois  furnished  an  exception;  their  captives  had  all  been  put  to  death 
(ibid.,  163). 


68  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

appeared  at  Detroit  where  they  were  joined  by  seventy-four 
Hurons  and  four  Ottawas  and  the  whole  set  out  for  Wisconsin.143 

They  followed  the  Indian  trail  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph 
River  and  thence  around  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan  to 
the  Chicago  Portage,  where  they  built  a  fort  and  left  in  it  some 
sick  men  with  a  guard  to  protect  them.  Some  chiefs  of  the  St. 
Joseph  Pottawatomies  came  to  them  while  here  and  promised 
if  they  would  defer  their  expedition  until  spring  they  would  join 
them.  They  declined  to  assent  to  this,  and  pushed  on  westward 
to  the  village  of  the  Mascoutens  and  Kickapoos  located  on  Rock 
River.  According  to  the  boastful  report  of  the  Indians,  made 
on  their  return  from  the  expedition,  these  were  asked  to  join 
them  but  refused  in  terror.  They  were  persuaded,  however,  to 
furnish  guides  to  conduct  the  party  to  their  former  allies,  but 
these  prudently  turned  back  before  the  village  of  the  Foxes  was 
reached. 

Winter  had  now  arrived  and  the  party  was  suffering  from 
hunger  and  the  fatigue  caused  by  the  deep  snow.  A  council  was 
held  and  the  old  men  favored  turning  back.  The  young  men 
declined  to  accede  to  this,  however,  and  so  the  party  divided. 
The  old  men  returned  to  Chicago,  while  the  others  to  the  number 
of  forty  Hurons  and  thirty  Iroquois  pushed  on  toward  the  Wis- 
consin, where  they  expected  to  find  their  quarry.  After  several 
days  they  came  upon  the  Foxes,  who  promptly  took  to  flight. 
For  the  story  of  what  followed  we  have  only  the  report  of  the 
victors,  which  is  manifestly  unreliable.  It  is  repeated,  there- 
fore, rather  as  furnishing  a  typical  illustration  of  an  Indian 
report  of  such  an  encounter  than  because  of  faith  in  the  trust- 
worthiness of  its  details. 

The  warriors,  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  fleeing  quarry,  were  aston- 
ished on  reaching  the  top  of  the  hill  at  seeing  in  the  valley  before 
them,  on  the  bank  of  the  Wisconsin,  the  main  village  of  the 
Foxes  comprising  forty-six  cabins.  From  these  the  men  streamed 
forth,  arms  hi  hand,  to  the  number  of  ninety,  to  meet  them. 

•«  Parkman  (Half  Century  of  Conflict,  chap,  riv)  tells  the  story  of  the  expedition.  For 
the  original  documents  pertaining  to  it  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  148-69. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT       69 

The  chiefs  of  the  attacking  party  exhorted  their  young  men, 
volleys  were  exchanged,  and  the  assailants  threw  aside  their 
guns  and  with  tomahawk  and  dagger  drove  the  Foxes  back  into 
the  village  with  great  slaughter.  One  hundred  and  fifty  were 
killed  and  an  equal  number  made  captive,  while  but  ten  escaped ; 
and  these,  quite  naked,  died  of  cold. 

This  overwhelming  victory  is  partly  accounted  for  by  the 
explanation  that  both  parties  to  the  contest  fought  on  snow- 
shoes,  and  the  Foxes,  being  less  expert  in  the  use  of  these  than 
were  the  Hurons  and  the  Iroquois,  were  placed  at  a  great  dis- 
advantage. Before  the  conflict  the  heathen  Hurons,  in  spite  of 
the  remonstrance  of  the  Christian  Iroquois,  "made  medicine"  to 
protect  them  from  the  hostile  bullets  and  arrows.  At  the  first 
volley  the  chief  medicine  man  and  four  or  five  others  of  the 
Hurons  were  killed,  while  the  Iroquois,  who  had  prayed  assidu- 
ously during  the  whole  expedition  and  had  placed  all  their 
reliance  in  the  Master  of  Life,  escaped  unscathed. 

After  the  battle  the  victors  released  a  wounded  Fox  warrior 
and  sent  him  with  six  of  the  women  to  carry  the  pleasant  mes- 
sage to  the  remaining  villages  that  their  chief  village  had  just 
been  eaten  up  by  the  Hurons  and  the  Iroquois,  who  would 
remain  there  for  two  days;  the  Foxes  were  welcome  to  follow 
them,  but  as  soon  as  they  should  see  them  they  would  "break 
the  heads"  of  their  women  and  children  and  make  a  rampart 
of  their  dead  bodies,  and  would  endeavor  to  complete  the  work 
by  piling  the  remainder  of  the  nation  on  top  of  them.  Strangely 
enough  it  does  not  appear  that  this  invitation  was  accepted. 

As  usual  the  Fox  version  of  this  action  was  never  told.  We 
may  well  believe  that  another  serious  defeat  was  dealt  them,  for 
the  war  party  returned  to  Detroit  with  one  hundred  captives 
and  reported  having  killed  some  fifty  on  the  way.  Further  than 
this  we  cannot  safely  go.  The  tribe  was  not  exterminated, 
however  much  its  power  was  broken.  After  the  decisive  over- 
throw of  the  Foxes  in  1730  the  French  re-established  the  post  of 
Green  Bay,  and  hither,  in  1733,  came  De  Villiers,  the  leader  in 
that  conflict.  In  this  same  year  Beauharnois,  the  governor,  had 


70  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

again  resolved  that  the  Foxes  must  be  exterminated.146  De 
Villiers  rashly  attempted  to  seize  some  who  had  taken  refuge 
with  the  Sacs  and  in  the  melee  that  ensued  the  commandant, 
together  with  his  son  and  a  number  of  the  French,  was  slain.147 
The  Sacs,  retreating,  were  followed  by  the  French  and  a  drawn 
battle  ensued. 

The  consequences  of  this  embroilment  were  far-reaching. 
The  Sacs  were  kinsmen  of  the  Foxes,  but  hitherto  they  had  held 
aloof  from  them  and  had  submitted  to  French  control.  Together 
with  the  Foxes  many  now  withdrew  from  Wisconsin  and  estab- 
lished themselves  west  of  the  Mississippi  within  the  boundaries 
of  the  modern  state  of  Iowa.  From  this  time,  therefore,  dates 
the  confederation  of  the  two  tribes.  This  migration  did  not  end 
the  struggle,  however.  The  French  felt  that  the  affair  at  Green 
Bay  must  be  avenged  if  they  would  retain  their  influence  over 
the  tribes  of  the  Northwest.  It  was  recognized  that  De  Villiers' 
foolhardiness,  rather  than  misconduct  on  the  part  of  the  Sacs, 
had  occasioned  his  death,  and  it  was  therefore  determined  to 
pardon  them  on  condition  that  they  abandon  the  Foxes  and 
return  to  their  French  allegiance.  If  they  refused  this  repara- 
tion they  were  to  be  destroyed. 

In  August,  1734,  sixty  Frenchmen  under  the  command  of  the 
Sieur  De  Noyelles  set  out  from  Montreal  for  a  winter  expedition 
against  the  distant  tribes.148  The  party  was  to  go  to  Detroit, 
and  from  thence  either  by  way  of  Mackinac  or  "in  a  strait  line 
overland,"  according  to  circumstances.  In  addition  to  his  sixty 
Frenchmen  De  Noyelles  was  accompanied  by  bands  of  Iroquois 
from  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains  and  Hurons  from  Detroit, 
and  in  case  he  decided  to  follow  the  overland  route  from  Detroit 
he  was  to  arrange  a  rendezvous  with  Celeron  who  was  to  lead 
a  mixed  force  of  French  and  Indians  from  Mackinac. 

The  ultimate  failure  of  the  expedition  was  decreed  even  before 
it  started.  The  chief  reliance  for  the  punishment  of  the  Sacs 

««  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  182. 
««» On  this  affair  see  ibid.,  pp.  xv,  188-91,  200-204. 

«•  For  the  documents  pertaining  to  this  expedition  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections, 
XVII,  206  ff. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT       71 

and  Foxes  was  placed  in  the  friendly  Indians,  who  largely  out- 
numbered the  French.  To  provide  even  the  small  number  of 
the  latter  which  had  been  decided  upon  necessitated  stripping 
Canada  of  one-tenth  of  her  armed  defenders.149  The  policy 
which  had  been  determined  upon  with  respect  to  the  Sacs  has 
already  been  indicated.  In  accordance  with  it  De  Noyelles  was 
ordered  to  grant  peace  to  them  on  condition  that  they  give  up 
the  Foxes;  otherwise  he  was  to  destroy  both  nations  and  to  let 
his  red  allies  "eat  them  up."150  The  expectation  of  enjoying 
this  pleasure  was  the  sole  inducement  for  the  Huron  and  Iroquois 
contingents  to  engage  in  the  enterprise;  yet  they  were  deceived 
by  De  Noyelles  as  to  the  nature  of  his  orders.  When  the  Hurons, 
in  council,  stated  that  they  would  not  march  unless  he  had 
orders  to  destroy  the  Sacs  as  well  as  the  Foxes,  he  replied,  with- 
out further  explanation,  that  he  had  orders  "to  Eat  up  both 
nations."151  When  this  deception  was  discovered,  the  Hurons 
and  Iroquois  declined  to  assist  De  Noyelles  further,  and  this,  as 
will  be  seen,  caused  not  only  the  failure  of  the  expedition,  but 
came  near  resulting  in  the  complete  destruction  of  the  Frenchmen 
engaged  in  it. 

When  De  Noyelles  reached  Detroit  it  was  decided  to  con- 
tinue overland.  This  involved  passing  around  the  southern  end 
of  Lake  Michigan  and  through  the  tribe  of  the  Ouiatanons, 
located  on  the  upper  Wabash.152  Here  it  was  learned  that  six 
cabins  of  the  Sacs  had  established  themselves  on  the  St.  Joseph 
River,  having  taken  refuge  here,  in  a  region  where  the  French 
influence  was  strongest,  in  token  of  their  desire  for  peace. 
De  Noyelles'  Huron  and  Iroquois  allies,  however,  having  come 
out  in  search  of  Sac  and  Fox  scalps,  immediately  declared  their 
intention  of  going  to  "eat  up"  these  six  cabins.  De  Noyelles 
protested  against  this,  explaining  to  them,  apparently  for  the 
first  time,  his  instructions  to  spare  the  Sacs  who  made  their  sub- 
mission to  the  French.  In  spite  of  all  he  could  do  the  Hurons 

•<»  Ibid.,  208,  footnote.  »»•  Ibid.,  200-10.  •»'  Ibid.,  256-57. 

"*  The  French  established  a  fort  near  the  site  of  the  modern  city  of  Lafayette,  Indiana, 
about  the  year  1720.  For  its  location  and  history  see  Oscar  J.  Craig,  "Ouiatanon,"  in 
Indiana  Historical  Society  Publications,  Vol.  II,  No.  8. 


72  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

persisted  in  their  design,  and  departed  in  a  body  to  execute  it. 
The  Iroquois  stayed  with  De  Noyelles,  but  their  disaffection, 
which  in  the  end  was  to  bring  the  expedition  to  naught,  dates 
from  this  incident. 

The  documents  left  us  do  not  permit  a  detailed  statement 
concerning  the  route  followed  from  the  country  of  the  Ouiata- 
nons  to  the  Mississippi.  De  Noyelles  had  planned  to  go  by  way 
of  the  Illinois,  but  this  was  given  up  because  of  the  long  detour 
it  would  necessitate.  From  the  Ouiatanons  he  proceeded  to  the 
Kickapoo  tribe,  on  leaving  which  five  Sacs  en  route  to  the  St. 
Joseph  River  were  captured.  Under  threat  of  torture  these  were 
forced  to  guide  the  party  to  the  Fox  village.  It  is  clear  that  the 
expedition  rounded  Lake  Michigan  and  traveled  in  a  general 
northwesterly  direction.  It  is  possible  and  even  probable  that 
it  passed  by  the  site  of  Chicago,  as  did  the  Huron-Iroquois  party 
of  1731;  but  since  the  party  was  traveling  overland  on  snow- 
shoes,  and  was  thus  not  bound  to  follow  the  river  courses,  the 
route  taken  by  it  cannot  be  definitely  known. 

From  the  prisoners  it  was  learned  that  the  Foxes  had  left 
their  posts  on  the  Pomme  de  Cigne  River — the  modern  Wap- 
sipinacon — where  they  had  established  themselves  on  retiring 
from  Wisconsin  after  the  death  of  the  two  De  Villiers,  in  1733, 
and  had  withdrawn  to  the  river  Des  Moines.  On  crossing  the 
Mississippi,  the  supply  of  provisions  having  become  low,  the 
party  was  forced  to  content  itself  with  one  "very  inferior"  meal 
each  day.  On  March  12  the  Fox  fort  was  reached;  it  was 
deserted,  but  the  intense  cold  compelled  a  halt  of  two  days, 
during  which  the  party  was  entirely  without  food.  Meanwhile 
reconnoitering  parties  had  been  sent  out,  and  these  now  returned 
to  report  that  they  had  seen  smoke.  The  little  army  moved 
forward  by  night,  crossing  several  rivers  with  the  water  up  to 
the  men's  waists.  A  halt  was  made  behind  a  hill  and  the  men, 
wrapped  in  their  robes,  tired,  wet  through,  and  hungry,  awaited 
the  dawn.  They  then  advanced  again;  the  Indians,  believing 
the  goal  was  at  hand,  and  that  the  hostile  village  numbered  only 
four  cabins,  eager  to  have  the  honor  of  arriving  first,  proceeded 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT       73 

at  a  run  for  four  or  five  leagues,  the  Frenchmen  following  as 
best  they  could.  The  race  ended  on  the  bank  of  a  wide  and  rapid 
river,  full  of  floating  ice.  On  the  opposite  bank  stood  the  village 
they  had  come  so  far  to  seek ;  but  in  place  of  four  or  five  cabins 
it  numbered  fifty-five. 

The  river  was  the  Des  Moines,  the  largest  western  tributary 
of  the  Mississippi  above  the  Missouri;  and  the  point  where  the 
village  stood  was  sixty  leagues  from  its  mouth,  in  the  vicinity, 
probably,  of  the  modern  capital  of  Iowa.  Nontagarouche,  the 
Iroquois  war  chief,  proposed  to  De  Noyelles  that  the  whole  party 
should  swim  across.  This  the  latter  declared  to  be  impossible, 
on  account  of  the  cold.  He  further  pointed  out  that  they  had 
only  sixty  men  at  hand,  the  others  having  scattered  in  search 
of  the  village,  the  tracks  of  whose  occupants  they  had  been 
following;  and  that,  even  if  it  were  possible,  the  enemy  would 
kill  them  as  fast  as  they  landed.  He  proposed,  therefore,  to 
reassemble  the  party  and,  as  they  were  still  undiscovered,  to  go 
higher  up  the  river  and  construct  rafts  on  which  to  cross  over. 
They  would  then  be  in  a  position  to  attack  the  enemy  with  arms 
in  their  hands,  and  with  some  prospect  of  success.  Nontaga- 
rouche replied  that  De  Noyelles  "was  no  man."  At  this  the 
brave  Frenchman's  anger  blazed  forth.  "Dog,"  he  cried,  "if 
thou  art  so  brave,  swim  over  and  let  us  see  what  Thou  wilt  do." 

The  chief  did  not  immediately  avail  himself  of  this  invitation, 
but  his  insubordination  destroyed  the  last  hope  of  a  successful 
issue  of  the  campaign.  The  details  of  the  action  that  followed 
are  not  entirely  clear,  though  its  main  features  may  be  followed 
with  assurance.  The  Iroquois,  with  some  of  the  French,  left  the 
commander,  who  proceeded  along  the  river  about  a  league. 
Meanwhile  others  of  the  army,  probably  some  of  those  who  had 
spread  out  in  search  of  the  hostile  village,  had  crossed  the  river 
on  a  jam  of  driftwood  and  logs,  and  joined  battle  with  the 
enemy.  The  advance  party,  consisting  of  seven  Frenchmen  and 
twenty-three  Indians,  thus  found  itself  confronted  by  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  Sacs  and  Foxes.  Onorakinguiah,  an  Iroquois 
chief  from  the  Sault  St.  Louis,  cried  out:  "My  French  and 


74  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Indian  brothers,  we  are  dead  men,  but  we  must  sell  our  lives  very 
dearly  and  not  let  ourselves  be  captured."  They  fought  so 
fiercely  that  the  foe  was  at  first  driven  back.  On  perceiving  the 
small  number  of  their  opponents,  however,  they  pressed  forward 
with  the  design  of  surrounding  them,  seeing  which  the  French 
and  Iroquois  in  turn  retreated,  fighting  as  best  they  might.  One 
of  them  ran  to  report  the  situation  to  De  Noyelles,  who  had 
crossed  the  river  and  returned  to  the  village  which  he  found  had 
been  deserted.  On  receiving  the  report  of  the  plight  of  the 
advance  guard  he  sent  forward  all  of  the  men  who  were  with 
him,  with  word  that  he  would  join  them  with  the  main  body  as 
soon  as  it  should  arrive.  A  half -hour  later  he  moved  forward 
with  such  as  had  joined  him  in  the  meantime,  and  the  combat 
was  continued  for  several  hours. 

Toward  nightfall  the  Foxes  attempted  to  scalp  the  wounded 
on  the  other  side.  This  led  De  Noyelles  to  order  his  force  to 
fall  back  in  search  of  a  suitable  spot  to  fortify.  A  detachment 
of  fifty  men  was  made  to  continue  the  fighting  and  cover  the 
work  of  the  remainder  while  constructing  the  fort.  Meanwhile 
the  contingent  of  Kickapoos  observed  the  contest  from  a  near-by 
eminence,  debating,  as  De  Noyelles  feared,  whether  they  should 
join  forces  with  the  enemy. 

The  next  day  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  disaffected 
Iroquois  a  council  was  held  with  the  Sacs.  They  informed 
De  Noyelles  that  but  for  the  fact  that  the  French  had  attacked 
them,  and  for  the  small  number  of  Frenchmen,  they  would  have 
surrendered;  but  that  as  the  French  were  inferior  in  number  to 
the  Iroquois  they  feared  the  latter,  when  they  were  at  a  distance 
from  the  Foxes,  would  "put  them  in  the  Kettle."  According 
to  his  own  story,  De  Noyelles  adopted  in  reply  the  tone  of  a 
conqueror.  The  Sacs  were  told  they  might  come  forth  in  per- 
fect safety,  and  were  promised  protection  from  the  Iroquois. 
In  truth,  De  Noyelles  had  so  little  control  over  his  allies  that  he 
could  not  protect  his  own  soldiers  from  being  beaten  by  them 
before  his  face.  This  fear  removed,  however,  the  Sacs  discovered 
other  obstacles.  The  weather  was  too  cold  for  their  women  and 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT       75 

children  to  travel;  if  the  Sacs  really  had  any  desire  to  join  the 
French  the  project  was  effectually  prevented  by  the  Foxes. 
They  informed  their  allies  that  in  case  they  deserted  to  the 
French  they  would  immediately  "eat"  their  women  and  children. 

For  four  days  longer  the  French  faced  their  foe.  During 
this  time  they  were  sorely  beset  by  hunger,  their  menu  consisting 
of  twelve  dogs  and  a  horse;  this  supply  being  exhausted,  they 
were  reduced  to  eating  their  moccasins.  The  Iroquois  now 
proposed  to  abandon  them,  and  De  Noyelles  was  forced  to  give 
up  the  enterprise.  He  covered  his  failure  as  well  as  possible  by 
sending  a  "collar"153  to  the  Sacs  offering  to  grant  them  their 
lives  on  condition  that  they  desert  the  Foxes  and  return  to  their 
old  homes  at  Green  Bay.  This  the  Sacs  promised  to  do.  The 
French  then  retired  and  made  their  way  to  Fort  Chartres.154 

The  expedition  had  extended  over  seven  months  of  time 
during  which  the  party  had  traversed  hundreds  of  miles  of  wilder- 
ness in  the  dead  of  winter,  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the 
elements,  and  much  of  the  time  in  immediate  peril  of  starvation. 
At  the  end,  confronted  by  two  hundred  and  fifty  Sacs  and  Foxes, 
and  with  disaffection  rife  among  his  Indian  allies,  De  Noyelles 
had  been  compelled  to  give  up  and  retreat.  The  only  immediate 
result  was  the  infliction  of  a  slight  loss  upon  the  enemy  in  the 
battle,  and  the  promise  of  the  Sacs  to  abandon  the  Foxes  and 
return  to  Green  Bay.  Both  the  governor  and  the  intendant 
joined  in  approval  of  the  conduct  of  De  Noyelles,  the  inten- 
dant expressing  his  surprise  that  Frenchmen  should  be  able  to 
endure  the  hardships  which  his  party  had  surmounted.155  The 
governor  declared  that  the  savages  admitted  the  courage  of  the 
French  to  be  equal  to  every  obstacle,  and  that  they  would  seek 
the  enemy  "at  the  end  of  the  world."156 

'"  A  belt  to  accompany  a  formal  communication  of  a  public  character. 

•««  For  the  narrative  of  this  expedition  I  have  drawn  chiefly  upon  the  report  of  De 
Noyelles,  printed  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  221-30.  It  differs  from  the 
report  of  Hocquart,  the  intendant,  in  some  respects,  but  aside  from  the  fact  that  De  Noyelles 
was  the  leader  of  the  expedition  while  Hocquart  remained  in  Canada,  the  latter  had  an 
interest  in  misrepresenting  the  facts,  in  order  to  minimize  as  much  as  possible  the  failure 
which  had  occurred. 

•ss  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  232.  »«•  Ibid.,  219. 


76  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

With  the  failure  of  De  Noyelles'  expedition  the  French  felt 
constrained  to  resort  to  a  policy  of  conciliation.  Grave  fears 
were  entertained  for  a  time  lest  the  failure  should  have  a  disas- 
trous effect  upon  their  authority  throughout  the  Northwest 
generally.  If  the  dispatches  of  the  governor  and  the  intendant 
of  Canada  are  to  be  credited,  however,  no  such  result  manifested 
itself.  But  scattered  here  and  there  throughout  the  dispatches 
of  this  period  are  intimations  that  all  was  not  going  well  with  the 
French,  and  the  truth  seems  to  be  that  the  long  contest  with  the 
Foxes,  with  its  attendant  consequences,  had  greatly  weakened 
their  hold  upon  the  northwestern  tribes.  It  is  plain  from  their 
own  dispatches  that  the  French  did  not  dare  to  attempt  the 
extermination  of  the  Sacs;  nor,  even  after  all  the  disasters 
which  they  had  suffered,  to  prosecute  further  the  policy  of  exter- 
minating the  Foxes.  The  latter  sued  for  peace,  but  at  the  same 
time  succeeded  in  entering  into  a  new  alliance  with  the  Sioux 
who  promised  them  an  asylum  in  case  of  need.157  Beauharnois, 
the  governor,  sagely  concluding  that  "there  Was  danger  in 
driving  the  Reynards  to  despair,"  offered  to  pardon  them  on 
condition  that  they  disperse  among  the  other  tribes  and  that  no 
mention  ever  be  made  of  the  name  of  the  Reynards,  "who  had 
so  often  Disturbed  the  earth."158 

The  French  found  it  impossible,  however,  to  carry  out  even 
the  new  policy  of  mildness  toward  the  obnoxious  tribe.  Their 
efforts  to  compel  the  Sacs  to  return  to  their  old  home  near  Green 
Bay  were  unsuccessful.  Various  excuses  were  given:  the  land 
had  lost  its  fertility  on  account  of  its  being  stained  with  the  blood 
of  the  French  and  of  themselves.  Probably  the  real  reason,  how- 
ever, was  the  one  given  by  some  spokesmen  of  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes  who  had  settled  on  Rock  River,  at  a  conference  held  in  the 
spring  of  1739.  They  stated  that  they  had  determined  to  return 
to  "LaBaye"  as  Onontio  had  desired  them,  but  they  had  been 
told  by  many  French  and  savages  that  the  French  desired  their 
return  only  in  order  that  they  might  the  more  easily  slaughter 

•IT  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  258-59.  *>'  Ibid.,  258,  275-76. 


THE  FOX  WARS:  A  HALF-CENTURY  OF  CONFLICT       77 

them,  and  that  an  army  of  French  and  their  allies  was  already 
prepared  for  this  purpose.159 

Whatever  truth  there  may  have  been  in  this  at  the  time,  the 
Foxes  could  hardly  be  blamed,  in  view  of  what  had  gone  before, 
for  their  suspicions.  Their  alliance  with  the  Sioux  was  con- 
tinued and  the  tribes  in  common  made  war  upon  the  Chippewas 
and  the  Illinois,  both  allies  of  the  French.160  The  Foxes  took 
the  further  precaution  of  entering  into  an  understanding  with 
the  Iroquois,  similar  to  that  already  entered  into  with  the  Sioux, 
which  secured  them  an  asylum  hi  time  of  need.161  They  were 
thus  prepared,  in  case  of  a  new  French  attack,  to  retreat  in  either 
direction  to  safety. 

That  these  precautions,  and  the  suspicions  of  French  treach- 
ery toward  them,  were  not  without  reason,  is  shown  by  the  dis- 
patches of  Beauharnois.  In  a  speech  to  the  representatives  of 
the  Sacs  and  Foxes  at  Montreal  in  July,  1743,  the  Governor 
assured  them  he  had  no  hostile  disposition  toward  them,  and 
urged  them  not  to  listen  to  the  "evil  words"  that  came  to  them 
from  the  St.  Joseph  River.162  He  further  directed  that  the  bands 
located  at  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  and  on  Rock  River  should  join 
those  who  had  returned  to  their  old  home  near  Green  Bay.163 
Yet  he  had  secretly  planned  an  expedition  for  the  year  1742  to 
destroy  them,  and  the  project  had  been  approved  by  his  advisers 
on  the  ground  that  for  several  years  the  French  Court  had  had 
"nothing  so  much  at  heart"  as  the  destruction  of  the  Foxes.164 

That  the  French  did  not  dare  to  execute  this  program  is 
sufficiently  evident.  Their  power  in  the  Northwest  was  totter- 
ing, and  in  1743  Beauharnois  confessed  that  he  was  powerless 
to  hinder  the  union  of  the  Sioux  with  the  Foxes.165  The  tribe 

'"Ibid.,  320. 

»«•  Hebberd,  Wisconsin  Under  the  Dominion  of  France,  147. 
161  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  339. 

161  This  refers  to  the  French  who  came  from  the  St.  Joseph  to  carry  on  a  trade,  appar- 
ently illicit,  with  the  Foxes  at  Chicago  and  Milwaukee. 
163  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  404-5. 
'•«  Ibid.,  338-39-  I6s  Ibid.,  43S-38- 


78  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

whose  destruction  had  so  often  been  decreed  and  so  many  times 
attempted  could  at  last  defy  the  French  with  impunity.  A  few 
years  later  the  disaffection  among  the  Indians  for  the  French 
culminated  in  a  widespread  revolt.166  Even  the  Illinois,  with 
whom  allegiance  to  the  French  had  become  proverbial,  for  a  time 
inclined  to  join  it.  The  danger  was  surmounted  for  the  time 
being  but  the  struggle  of  the  French  to  maintain  themselves 
was  shortly  transferred  to  a  far  wider  field.  In  the  upper  Ohio 
Valley  they  joined  in  deadly  combat  with  the  English.  The 
immediate  stake  was  the  control  of  the  Indian  trade  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,  and  so,  appropriately  enough,  the  contest  was 
inaugurated  by  a  descent  on  Pickawillany,  the  center  of  influence 
of  the  English  traders  in  the  Northwest,  by  a  band  of  French 
Indians  led  by  the  young  Wisconsin  half-breed  fur  trader, 
Charles  de  Langlade.167  The  larger  stake  was  the  commercial 
and  political  supremacy  of  three  continents  and  all  the  seas. 
The  struggle  was  accordingly  waged  on  a  world-wide  scale. 
When  it  ended  the  dominion  of  France  in  North  America  had 
passed  forever.  We  shall  have  occasion  still  to  deal  with  the 
French,  whose  influence  long  persisted  in  the  Northwest,  but 
henceforth  the  shaping  of  the  destiny  of  Chicago  and  the  tribu- 
tary region  rested  with  the  Anglo-Saxon. 

i«6  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  456-69,  478-93. 
•6?  Turner,  Indian  Trade  in  Wisconsin,  40-41. 


CHAPTER  IV 

CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION 

The  years  from  1754  to  1760  witnessed  the  overthrow  of  the 
power  of  France  in  the  new  world.  For  the  fourth  time  in  two 
generations  England  and  France  had  joined  in  deadly  combat. 
Twice  the  issue  ended  in  a  drawn  contest;  twice  France  was 
overwhelmed,  and  the  English  gained  a  decisive  victory.  Each 
of  these  great  wars  had  its  American  counterpart,  and  the  out- 
come of  each  was  reflected  in  the  disposition  made  in  the  treaty 
of  peace  of  the  territories  of  the  warring  nations  in  America. 
At  the  close  of  the  two  drawn  contests  there  were  no  territorial 
changes.  By  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  which  closed  the  Spanish 
Succession  War,  however,  England  made  substantial  territorial 
gains  in  North  America  at  the  expense  of  her  defeated  rival. 
Finally,  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1763,  which  registered  the 
results  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  France  lost  all  of  her  vast 
American  possessions  on  the  mainland.  Canada  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  English,  while  the  imperial  domain  of  Louisiana, 
in  the  establishment  of  which  La  Salle  and  Tonty  and  many 
another  intrepid  Frenchman  had  toiled  and  died,  was  divided; 
all  that  lay  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  given  to  Spain,  while  the 
portion  drained  by  the  eastern  tributaries  of  that  stream  fell  to 
the  English. 

What  the  dividing  line  between  Canada  and  Louisiana  had 
been  in  the  French  period  is  not  easy  to  determine.  Nor  is  it 
necessary  to  our  purpose  to  do  so,  for  whether  it  had  belonged 
to  Canada  or  Louisiana,  the  region  tributary  to  Chicago,  since 
known  as  the  old  Northwest,  was  now  the  property  of  England. 
Her  civilized  rival  crushed,  however,  another  foe  arose  to  resist 
the  assumption  by  England  of  possession  of  her  new-won  terri- 
tory. The  idea  of  passing  under  the  control  of  the  English  was 
extremely  distasteful  to  a  large  proportion  of  the  northwestern 

79 


8o  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Indians.  Under  the  leadership  of  Pontiac  a  conspiracy  was 
formed  in  the  spring  of  1763  to  wipe  out  in  a  day  all  the  English 
posts  from  Pennsylvania  to  Lake  Superior.168  The  execution  of 
this  terrible  project  stopped  short  of  complete  success.  Fort 
Pitt  and  Detroit  withstood  the  attacks  of  the  savages.  But 
Green  Bay  and  Sault  Ste.  Marie  were  abandoned;  the  forts  at 
Mackinac,  Sandusky,  Miami,  St.  Joseph,  Ouiatanon,  Presqu' 
Isle,  and  Venango  were  taken;  and  over  two  thousand  frontier 
settlers  were  slain. 

The  storm  had  not  broken  entirely  without  warning,  and  the 
effort  to  relieve  the  posts  that  still  held  out  and  to  subdue  the 
obstreperous  savages  was  promptly  begun.  In  August  Colonel 
Bouquet  threw  a  relieving  force  into  Fort  Pitt,  having  beaten 
off  the  savages  at  Bushy  Run  in  a  bloody  battle  of  two  days' 
duration.  The  following  season  two  armies  were  sent  into  the 
Indian  country  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Ohio.  A  force 
under  Bradstreet  passed  by  way  of  Niagara  and  the  southern 
shore  of  Lake  Erie  to  Detroit,  from  which  place  detachments 
were  sent  out  to  take  possession  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Mackinac, 
and  Green  Bay.  In  the  fall  of  1764  Bouquet  with  the  second 
army  crossed  the  Ohio  River  and  advanced  into  the  valley  of 
the  Muskingum  where,  in  November,  the  tribes  of  the  surround- 
ing region  were  forced  to  subscribe  to  the  terms  of  peace  which 
the  invader  imposed  upon  them. 

Not  until  another  year  had  passed  did  the  English  gain 
possession  of  the  country  bordering  on  the  Illinois  and  the 
Wabash.169  A  force  of  four  hundred  men  with  which  Major 
Loftus  attempted  to  ascend  the  Mississippi  to  Fort  Chartres  in 
the  spring  of  1764  was  defeated  and  driven  back,  when  only  two 
hundred  and  forty  miles  above  New  Orleans.  A  year  later 
Lieutenant  Fraser  was  sent  down  the  Ohio  from  Fort  Pitt  to 
warn  the  tribes  and  the  French  of  the  prospective  approach  of 

•«  The  classic  account  of  these  events  is  Parkman's  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac.  For  a 
brief  narrative  see  Winsor,  Mississippi  Basin,  chaps,  xxii,  xxiii. 

'•»  For  the  facts  given  here  I  have  relied  on  Winsor,  Mississippi  Basin.  Edward  G. 
Mason  has  written  charmingly  of  these  events  in  his  Chapters  from  Illinois  History. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  81 

a  force  of  troops  which  was  to  follow  after  him.  He  succeeded 
in  reaching  the  Illinois  villages,  but  was  glad  to  flee  in  disguise 
down  the  Mississippi.  He  owed  his  life  to  the  protection  of 
Pontiac,  but  before  granting  it  that  terrible  chieftain  had  "kept 
him  all  one  night  in  dread  of  being  boiled  alive."170  A  second 
herald  now  set  out,  in  the  person  of  the  redoubtable  George 
Croghan,  to  descend  the  Ohio  from  Fort  Pitt  to  Fort  Chartres. 
Near  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  however,  he  was  seized  by  a 
band  of  Indians  and  carried  prisoner  to  Vincennes.  He  was 
subsequently  released  at  Ouiatanon,  and  made  a  treaty  with 
the  neighboring  tribes;  proceeding  to  Detroit  he  repeated  his 
success  with  the  savages  there,  and  then  returned  to  Niagara. 
On  the  receipt  of  Croghan's  report  of  his  success  in  treating  with 
the  Indians,  a  force  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  Highlanders  of 
the  famous  Black  Watch  Regiment  proceeded  down  the  Ohio 
from  Fort  Pitt,  and  on  October  10,  1765,  at  Fort  Chartres  of 
the  Illinois,  in  the  heart  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  the  last  banner 
of  France  east  of  the  Mississippi  was  hauled  down.  "The  lilies 
of  France  gave  place  to  the  red  cross  of  St.  George,  and  the  long 
struggle  was  ended."171  The  control  of  the  British  over  this 
region  which  was  thus  at  last  established  was  to  continue 
unchallenged  by  a  civilized  power  less  than  a  decade  and  a  half. 
The  old  Northwest,  to  which  Chicago  belonged,  did  not  par- 
ticipate actively  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle  during  its  earlier 
stages.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  British  were,  of  course, 
in  possession  of  all  the  Northwest.  The  vantage  points  from 
which  they  directed  the  affairs  of  this  region  were,  in  general, 
the  old  French  posts,  now  occupied  by  British  garrisons.  Among 
these  may  be  named  Detroit,  Mackinac,  Fort  Gage,  and  Cahokia. 
The  first  named  of  these  was  easily  the  most  important  center 
of  British  influence  in  the  Northwest,  being  looked  upon  as  the 
headquarters  of  the  posts  and  the  key  to  the  fur  trade  and  to 
the  control  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  this  region.173  The  fort  was 

"« Mason,  op.  cit.,  234.  «» Ibid.,  235. 

172  James,  "Indian  Diplomacy  and  Opening  of  the  Revolution  in  the  West,"  in 
Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  19(39,  125. 


82  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

defended  by  a  palisade  of  pickets  and  contained  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1776  a  garrison  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  men. 
In  the  town  and  country  adjoining  were  three  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  mostly  French,  capable  of  bearing  arms;  and  to  com- 
plete the  tale  of  Detroit's  military  resources,  there  floated  in  the 
river  opposite  the  fort  several  tiny  public  vessels  with  crews 
aggregating  thirty  "seamen  and  servants." 

The  only  other  considerable  centers  of  white  population  in 
the  Northwest  were  the  old  French  posts  on  the  Wabash, 
Ouiatanon  and  Vincennes,  and,  most  populous  of  all,  the  settle- 
ments along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mississippi  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Missouri  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  on  what  later  came  to 
be  known  as  the  "American  Bottom."  At  Ouiatanon,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Revolution  there  were  about  a  dozen  French 
families.173  Vincennes  had,  in  1776,  according  to  the  report  of 
Lieutenant  Fraser,  about  sixty  farmers.174  This  would  imply  a 
total  population  of  between  two  and  three  hundred,  and  this 
estimate  is  borne  out  by  a  "census"  of  Indiana  of  1769.  This 
lists  the  names  of  sixty-six  "Inhabitants"  and  states  that  in 
addition  there  are  fifty  women  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  chil- 
dren "belonging  to  the  Inhabitants."175  There  were,  at  this 
time,  fifty  men  capable  of  bearing  arms,  and  during  the  next 
half-dozen  years  the  population  increased  somewhat. 

In  the  Illinois  settlements  of  the  American  Bottom  in  1778 
there  was  a  population  of  about  one  thousand  whites,  and  as 
many  Indians  and  negroes.176  The  more  populous  settlements 
were  Cahokia,  with  three  hundred  white  inhabitants,  and 
Kaskaskia,  with  five  hundred  whites  and  almost  as  many 
negroes. 

"« Indiana  Historical  Society,  Publications,  II,  338. 
«74  Ibid.,  410. 

ITS  Ibid.,  439.  Hamilton,  who  captured  the  place  in  1778,  states,  however,  that  he 
found  621  inhabitants  of  whom  217  were  able  to  bear  arms  (Michigan  Pioneer  and  Historical 
Society  Collections,  IX,  495).  This  work  will  be  cited  henceforth  as  Michigan  Pioneer 
Collections. 

'•"•  For  an  account  of  these  settlements  see  the  introduction  to  the  Cahokia  Records, 
Illinois  Historical  Collections,  II,  pp.  xiii  ff. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  83 

For  the  rest,  the  vast  region  which  now  teems  with  a  popula- 
tion as  prosperous  and  as  highly  civilized  as  any  on  the  face  of 
the  globe  was  a  wilderness.  The  Indian  tribes  could  muster, 
according  to  the  usual  estimates,  about  eight  thousand  warriors, 
which  would  imply  a  total  population  several  times  as  large.177 
The  Chippewas  alone  numbered  over  half  of  this  total.  Our 
interest,  however,  is  concerned  rather  with  certain  of  the  smaller 
tribes.  Around  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  with  a 
village  at  Chicago  but  with  their  principal  seat  on  the  St.  Joseph 
River,  were  the  Pottawatomies,  numbering  some  four  hundred 
warriors.  To  the  south  and  southeast  of  these,  in  the  modern 
states  of  Indiana  and  Ohio,  were  the  Miamis,  Shawnees,  and  other 
tribes,  who  were  to  contest  the  possession  of  the  Northwest  with 
the  Americans  even  more  fiercely  than  did  Great  Britain  herself. 
To  the  north,  at  Milwaukee,  was  located  a  "horrid  set  of  refrac- 
tory Indians,"  according  to  the  picturesque  language  of  Colonel  De 
Peyster,  which  seems  to  have  been  composed  of  the  off-scourings 
of  various  tribes  and  bands.  To  the  west  and  northwest,  in 
northern  Illinois  and  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  were  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  the  Winnebagoes,  and  other  tribes. 

The  advancing  wave  of  English  settlement  pouring  into  the 
upper  Ohio  Valley  had  precipitated  the  French  and  Indian  War. 
As  yet  this  tidal  wave  of  civilization  had  not  crossed  the  Ohio, 
although  it  had  spread  out  along  its  eastern  valley  as  far  south 
as  Tennessee.  The  most  important  point  along  this  extensive 
frontier  was  still,  as  in  the  days  of  the  old  war,  Fort  Pitt  at  the 
Forks  of  the  Ohio.178  It  was  the  center,  therefore,  from  which 
radiated  the  American  efforts  to  control  the  northwestern  tribes, 
just  as,  at  a  later  date,  it  afforded  the  principal  gateway  through 
which  the  flood  of  civilization  poured  into  this  region.179 

The  Americans  at  first  strove  to  secure  the  neutrality  of  the 
Indians  in  the  impending  contest.  But  the  disposition  of  the 

•"  James,  op.  tit.,  137;  Walker,  The  Northwest  during  the  Revolution,  12. 
"•  James,  op.  tit.,  126. 

"»On  the  rival  efforts  to  control  the  northwestern  tribes  in  the  early  period  of  the 
Revolution  see  ibid.,  1 25  ff. 


84  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

red  man  did  not  permit  him  to  stand  idly  by  while  a  war  was 
going  on,  and  the  British  more  wisely  directed  their  efforts  to 
securing  his  active  support.  This  policy  was  shortly  copied  by 
the  Americans,  and  soon  the  perplexed  red  men  were  being  plied 
with  rival  solicitations  for  alliance,  accompanied  by  correspond- 
ing threats  of  punishment  and  prophecies  of  disaster  which  were 
to  follow  their  failure  to  comply.  The  British  urged  them  on  to 
assail  the  outlying  settlements  of  the  American  frontiers,  counsel- 
ing humanity  to  the  vanquished,  but  effectually  nullifying  this 
counsel  by  offering  rewards  for  all  scalps  brought  in.  Lieutenant- 
governor  Hamilton  at  Detroit  was  particularly  zealous  in  hound- 
ing the  Indians  on  to  the  work  of  devastation.180  The  Americans, 
to  their  honor,  offered  rewards  for  prisoners  but  none  for  scalps. 
Two  courses  of  action  were  open  to  the  Americans  in  view  of 
this  situation.  They  might  endeavor  to  punish  the  hostile 
Indians  by  launching  retaliatory  expeditions  against  them;  or 
they  might  by  capturing  Detroit,  from  whence  issued  alike  the 
supplies  for  the  marauders  and  payment  for  the  scalps  they  took, 
destroy  the  opposition  at  its  fountain-head.181  The  latter  course 
was  urged  by  Colonel  Morgan,  the  Indian  agent  for  the  Middle 
Department,  a  man  of  much  experience  among  the  Indians  of 
the  Northwest.  The  reasons  which  he  advanced  in  support  of 
this  policy  and  against  the  alternative  one  were  telling,182  but 
his  advice  went  unheeded.  Seeing  this,  and  believing  a  general 
Indian  war  was  about  to  be  precipitated,  he  resigned  his  office; 
the  control  of  the  Western  Department  passed  into  incompetent 
hands,  and  it  seemed  probable  that  the  western  frontier  was 
about  to  be  overrun  by  the  British  and  Indians  when  an  impor- 
tant diversion  occurred.  The  advent  of  the  Virginia  "Hanni- 
bal," George  Rogers  Clark,  in  the  Illinois  country,  compelled  the 
British  at  Detroit  to  turn  their  attention  to  the  defense  of  the 
Northwest,  and  shortly  of  Detroit  itself,  against  the  invader. 

"» James,  op.  cit.;  Thwaites,  How  George  Rogers  Clark  Won  the  Northwest,  8-10. 
Hamilton  himself  vigorously  denied  the  charges  of  inhumanity  which  the  Americans  pre- 
ferred against  him.  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  IX,  400. 

"•  James,  op.  cit.,  141-42.  "'  For  a  statement  of  them,  see  ibid. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  85 

In  1776  Clark  had  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  young  settlements 
of  Kentucky.183  These  were  nominally  a  part  of  Virginia,  but 
in  fact  they  were  too  remote  to  receive  much  protection  from  the 
mother  colony.  It  was  congenial,  too,  to  the  spirit  of  the  Ameri- 
can frontiersman  to  depend  upon  himself,  and  Clark,  who  had 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  only  means  of  obtaining  safety 
was  to  carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country,  was  one  of  those 
who  favored  action  independently  of  authorization  from  the 
government  of  Virginia. 

Other  counsels  prevailed,  however.  The  protection  of  the 
parent  colony  was  sought,  and  as  a  result  the  Virginia  Assembly 
declared  the  extension  of  its  authority  over  the  region  and  in 
December,  1776,  created  the  county  of  Kentucky.184  The  next 
summer  Clark  learned  from  spies  whom  he  had  sent  into  the 
Illinois  settlements  that  the  French  settlers  were  lukewarm  in 
their  allegiance  to  Great  Britain  and  that  only  a  few  of  them 
were  participating  in  the  raids  against  the  Americans,  which, 
fomented  from  Detroit,  made  these  settlements  their  starting- 
point  and  base  of  operations.  Fired  by  these  reports  with  the 
purpose  to  conquer  the  Illinois  settlements,  he  proceeded  the 
same  summer  to  Virginia.  Here  he  laid  his  project  before 
Governor  Henry  and  received  his  authorization  to  raise  and 
equip  a  force  of  troops  for  the  work,  and  with  this  and  a  scanty 
supply  of  money  he  returned  to  Kentucky  and  launched  the 
enterprise. 

In  the  spring  of  1778  Clark  collected  a  little  army  of  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  at  Redstone,  now  Brownsville, 
Pennsylvania,  and  dropped  down  the  Monongahela  and  Ohio, 
taking  on  supplies  and  reinforcements  at  Pittsburgh  and  other 
places  along  the  way.  At  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  where  the 
metropolis  of  Kentucky  now  stands,  he  paused  long  enough  to 

Ig3  Many  of  the  original  documents  pertaining  to  Clark's  career  in  the  Northwest  have 
been  printed  in  the  Illinois  Historical  Collections,  Vol.  I;  the  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections; 
and  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections.  Among  the  secondary  accounts  may  be  men- 
tioned Dunn,  Indiana;  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  chap,  viii;  Thwaites,  How  George 
Rogers  Clark  Won  the  Northwest. 

•8«  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  116. 


86 

build  a  blockhouse  on  Corn  Island.  On  June  24,  while  the  sun 
was  obscured  by  a  great  eclipse,  the  journey  was  renewed,  the 
objective  being  Kaskaskia,  the  principal  settlement  of  the  Illi- 
nois country.  At  Fort  Massac  the  little  party  landed  and  began 
the  overland  march  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  to  Kas- 
kaskia. On  the  way  the  hunter  who  had  been  engaged  to  guide 
them  lost  his  bearings.  This  created  some  excitement,  and 
caused  Clark,  who  suspected  treachery,  to  threaten  him  with 
death  unless  he  found  the  way  that  evening.  In  this  he  suc- 
ceeded, and  accordingly  the  afternoon  of  July  4  found  the  party 
within  three  miles  of  the  goal. 

Clark  halted  his  little  army  until  nightfall,  when  he  advanced 
to  a  farmhouse  a  mile  from  the  town,  and  seizing  the  family 
secured  information  of  the  conditions  that  prevailed  there. 
Thus  armed,  the  party  moved  forward  in  two  divisions  and 
surrounded  the  place.  We  may  safely  dismiss  to  the  limbo  of 
myth  the  romantic  story  of  Clark's  appearance,  alone,  at  the 
ball  where  garrison  and  villagers  were  disporting  themselves,  and 
his  dramatic  announcement  to  the  merrymakers  that  the  dance 
might  go  on,  but  it  must  be  under  the  banner  of  Virginia.185 
The  story  betrays  too  conspicuously  the  handiwork  of  the 
romancer.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  garrison  and  townsmen 
were  completely  surprised,  and  surrendered  without  a  blow  being 
struck  or  a  gun  fired.  By  a  judicious  mixture  of  bluster  and 
leniency  Clark  soon  succeeded  in  gaining  the  hearty  support  of 
the  villagers.  One  of  his  most  effective  allies  was  the  priest, 
Father  Gibault,  who  assured  Clark  that  although,  by  reason  of 
his  calling,  he  had  "nothing  to  do  with  temporal  business,  that 
he  would  give  them  such  hints  in  the  Spiritual  way,  that  would 
be  very  conducive  to  tnc  business."186 

"s  On  this  see  Thwaites,  op.  dl ,  28-31.  I  have  drawn  freely  on  this  reference  and  on 
Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  for  the  facts  concerning  Clark's  expedition. 

i<6  Thwaites,  op.  cit.,  33.  That  he  kept  his  promise  is  sufficiently  attested  by  Hamilton, 
who  describes  him  as  a  "wretch,"  "who  absolved  the  French  inhabitants  from  their  alle- 
giance to  the  King  of  Great  Britain,"  and  "an  active  agent  for  the  rebels  &  whose  vicious 
&  immoral  conduct  was  sufficient  to  do  infinite  mischief  in  a  country  where  ignorance  & 
bigotry  give  full  scope  to  the  depravity  of  a  licentious  ecclesiastic." — Michigan  Pioneer 
Collections,  XIX,  487. 


CHICAGO-  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  87 

The  Cahokians  readily  followed  the  lead  of  the  Kaskaskians 
in  submitting  to  Clark's  rule;  so,  too,  did  the  inhabitants  of 
Vincennes,  to  whom  Father  Gibault  went  as  an  emissary  of 
Clark.  Thus  far  Clark's  success  had  been  unchecked;  as  far 
as  the  French  settlers  were  concerned,  the  British  power  had 
crumbled.  But  the  Indians  were  still  to  be  reckoned  with,  and 
the  British  at  Detroit  to  be  heard  from,  and  Clark's  resources 
were  pitifully  inadequate  for  the  task  in  hand.  Even  a  large 
part  of  his  Virginia  troops  abandoned  him  on  the  expiration  of 
their  term  of  enlistment.  With  such  as  consented  to  remain, 
augmented  by  enlistments  on  the  part  of  the  French  whom  he 
had  come  to  conquer,  Clark  maintained  his  position  throughout 
the  winter.  None  knew  better  than  he  how  to  combine  in  the 
right  proportions  terrible  energy,  braggadocio,  tact,  and  cajolery. 
Friendly  relations  were  established  with  De  Leyba,  the  Spanish 
commander  at  St.  Louis.  The  Indians  were  handled  so  adroitly 
that  an  "Amazeing  number"  flocked  in  from  five  hundred  miles 
around  to  treat  for  peace  and  learn  the  will  of  the  Big  Knife 
Chief. 

Meanwhile  on  August  6, 1778,  the  news  had  come  to  Hamilton 
at  Detroit  of  the  capture  of  Kaskaskia,  and  he  promptly  began 
preparations  for  the  recovery  of  the  posts  that  had  been  lost.187 
On  October  7  he  set  out  from  Detroit  by  boat  with  nearly  two 
hundred  whites,  chiefly  volunteers,  and  three  hundred  Indians. 
The  destination  was  Vincennes,  and  the  route  followed  led  up 
the  Maumee  and  down  the  Wabash  River.  Although  expedition 
was  all-important,  the  progress  made  was  tedious  and  slow. 
Not  until  December  17  was  Vincennes  reached.  On  the  news 
of  Hamilton's  approach  the  French  militia  of  Captain  Helm, 
Clark's  representative,  deserted  him.  Again,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  capture  of  Kaskaskia  by  Clark,  a  melodramatic  tale  is  told 
of  the  capture  of  the  fort.  Helm,  with  his  garrison  dwindled  to 
a  single  man,  is  represented  as  standing,  lighted  match  in  hand, 
by  a  well-charged  cannon  which  he  has  placed  in  the  fort  gate, 

""  For  Hamilton's  own  narrative  of  his  course  see  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  IX, 
489  ff.  His  correspondence  is  printed  in  Illinois  Historical  Collections,  I,  330  ff. 


88  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

halting  the  British  force,  and  surrendering  with  the  honors  of 
war.  The  story  is  without  adequate  historical  foundation  and 
may  properly  be  dismissed  as  a  pleasing  bit  of  fiction. 

Although  Vincennes  surrendered  without  resistance,  the 
delays  which  had  been  encountered  proved  fatal  to  Hamilton's 
project.  If  he  had  pushed  on  to  Kaskaskia  at  once  it  seems  cer- 
tain that  Clark  must  have  succumbed.  But  winter  having  now 
arrived,  Hamilton  decided  to  remain  at  Vincennes  until  spring, 
when  he  would  not  only  retake  the  Illinois  settlements  but  turn 
the  tables  on  the  invaders  by  sweeping  the  Americans  from 
Kentucky. 

Pending  the  arrival  of  spring,  the  greater  part  of  Hamilton's 
force  was  dispersed.  Not  until  the  last  of  January  did  full  news 
of  the  situation  at  Vincennes  and  the  projected  vernal  attack 
upon  Kaskaskia  come  to  Clark.  As  soon  as  he  had  quelled  the 
panic  which  the  tidings  caused  among  the  Kaskaskians,  he  pro- 
jected a  counter-assault  upon  Vincennes.  An  armed  galley  was 
sent  around  by  water,  down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Ohio  and 
the  Wabash  to  a  point  ten  leagues  below  Vincennes,  where  it  was 
to  await  the  arrival  of  Clark,  who,  meanwhile,  would  lead  a  force 
overland  across  Illinois.  The  story  of  the  difficulties  encountered 
and  vanquished  on  the  march  of  this  little  force  across  the  Illinois 
swamps  and  prairies  surpasses  many  a  flight  of  fiction.  It  was 
February  and  a  thaw  that  had  set  in  had  flooded  the  lowlands 
and  driven  away  the  game.  To  the  fatigues  and  discomforts  of 
wading  swollen  rivers  and  marching  through  boggy  and  often- 
times "drowned"  land  in  midwinter  were  added  the  pangs  of 
hunger.  The  last  stage  necessitated  the  crossing  of  miles  of 
bottom  land  overflowed  to  the  depth  of  three  feet  and  upward 
by  the  swollen  waters  of  the  rivers.  Here  the  sufferings  of  the 
party  were  such  that  Clark  avers  that  the  bare  recital  of  them 
would  be  "too  incredible  for  any  Person  to  believe  except  those 
that  are  well  acquainted  with  me." 

It  had  been  Clark's  purpose  to  take  the  garrison  by  surprise 
but  on  learning  from  some  villagers  whom  he  captured  that  the 
force  of  British  and  French  largely  outnumbered  his  own,  and 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  89 

that  the  villagers  were  not  ill-disposed  toward  the  Americans, 
he  changed  his  plan.  Fearing  that  in  the  fight  that  would  doubt- 
less ensue  some  of  the  French  and  Indians  would  be  slain  and 
that  this  would  embitter  the  rest,  he  determined  to  bluff  the 
garrison  and  the  town  into  a  surrender.  Halting  his  little  army 
in  sight  of  the  town,  but  concealed  from  the  view  of  the  garrison, 
he  sent  a  menacing  letter  ahead,  designed  to  awe  the  townsmen 
into  submission.  At  nightfall,  with  the  garrison  still  ignorant 
of  his  approach,  Clark's  men  moved  into  the  village.  The 
Creoles  greeted  them  with  enthusiasm,  and  the  fickle  Indians, 
who  made  up  the  larger  portion  of  Hamilton's  force,  either 
offered  to  join  Clark  or  drew  aside  to  await  the  issue  of  the 
contest  between  the  palefaces. 

The  British  had  been  attracted  by  the  commotion  and  the 
discharge  of  guns,  but  not  until  a  sergeant  received  a  bullet  in 
the  breast  did  they  know  whether  to  attribute  the  cause  to  some 
jollification  or  to  the  arrival  of  the  "Virginians."  Throughout 
the  night  and  early  morning  Clark's  riflemen  harassed  the  gar- 
rison. About  eight  o'clock,  while  his  men  stopped  for  breakfast, 
a  summons  to  surrender  was  dispatched  to  Hamilton.  It  was 
received  by  the  garrison  with  mingled  feelings  of  defiance  and 
despair.  According  to  Hamilton,  the  British  assured  him  they 
would  stick  to  him  "as  the  shirt  to  my  back,"  while  the  French 
"hung  their  heads."  The  firing  was  resumed,  but  later  in  the 
day  Hamilton  agreed  to  surrender.  The  next  morning,  February 
25,  1779,  the  fort  changed  hands  and  name  as  well,  for  the 
Americans  now  christened  it  Fort  Patrick  Henry,  in  honor  of  the 
governor  of  Virginia. 

Clark's  ultimate  goal  was  the  capture  of  Detroit,  but  with  his 
small  force  and  scanty  supplies  he  could  not  at  once  move  for- 
ward. While  waiting  for  reinforcements  he  applied  himself 
vigorously  to  the  work  of  governing  his  newly  won  territory, 
establishing  satisfactory  relations  with  the  Indians,  and  preparing 
the  way  for  the  greater  exploit  which  he  was  destined  never  to 
perform.  To  this  work  the  ensuing  spring  and  summer  were 
devoted. 


QO  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Meanwhile  certain  events  were  taking  place  in  the  region 
west  of  Lake  Michigan  and  the  vicinity  of  Chicago  which  now 
demand  our  attention.  When  Hamilton  began  preparations  for 
his  expedition  in  the  autumn  of  1778,  he  sent  word  to  De  Peyster, 
who  commanded  at  Mackinac,  to  raise  the  Indians  tributary  to 
that  post  and  co-operate  with  him  by  an  expedition  down  the 
Illinois  River.188  Many  of  the  Indians  who  frequented  Mackinac 
had  dispersed,  however,  and  the  lateness  of  the  season  rendered 
those  who  could  be  reached  indisposed  to  engage  in  such  an  enter- 
prise. Nevertheless  De  Peyster,  whom  Winsor  describes  as  "a 
somewhat  rattle-brained  person,  given  to  writing  illiterate  letters, 
but  in  some  ways  an  enterprising  and  prudent  commander,"189 
did  what  he  could.  He  sent  Langlade,  the  man  who  had 
destroyed  Pickawillany  in  1752,  to  the  Ottawas  and  Chippewas 
in  Michigan,  and  Gautier  to  the  Pottawatomies  of  St.  Joseph, 
to  lead  them  to  Hamilton's  assistance.  At  the  same  time  he 
suggested  to  Haldimand  the  project  of  sending  an  Indian  party 
from  Green  Bay  by  way  of  the  Fox-Wisconsin  route  and  the 
Mississippi,  directly  against  the  Illinois  posts.  The  Grand 
River  Indians  declined  to  start  until  spring,  and  Gautier  did  not 
reach  St.  Joseph  until  December.  What  few  Pottawatomies 
could  then  be  raised  were  taken  on  by  Louis  Chevalier,  a  trader 
who  resided  among  them;  Langlade  returned  to  Green  Bay  and 
Gautier  to  his  station  on  the  Mississippi,  carrying  speeches  and 
belts  to  exhort  the  Indians  to  be  ready  for  an  expedition  in  the 
spring.190 

During  the  winter  Hamilton  sent  orders  to  Langlade  at 
Green  Bay  requiring  him  and  Gautier  to  join  him  early  in  the 
spring  in  an  attack  upon  Kaskaskia.191  Langlade  was  to  proceed 
from  Green  Bay  down  Lake  Michigan,  and  thence  by  way  of 
the  Illinois  River,  while  Gautier  was  to  gather  the  Indians  from 
the  upper  Mississippi  and  descend  that  stream.  Thus  a  grand 

»» Illinois  Historical  Collections,  I,  364. 

i!»  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  130. 

190  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  122-23. 

'•'  Illinois  Historical  Collections,  I,  436-38. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  91 

converging  attack  from  three  directions  would  be  made  on  the 
Illinois  settlements.  How  Hamilton  took  and  then  lost  Vin- 
cennes  has  already  been  seen.  In  ignorance  of  the  latter  occur- 
rence, Langlade  set  out  from  Green  Bay  with  a  band  of  Indians, 
and  proceeded  as  far  as  Milwaukee.192  Here  they  learned  the 
news  of  Hamilton's  capture,  which  so  disheartened  the  Indians 
that  they  refused  to  go  farther.  Clark's  emissaries  were  in  the 
neighborhood,  purchasing  horses  and  threatening  to  be  at 
"Labaye"  soon  with  three  hundred  men,  but  Langlade's  Indians 
were  so  disaffected  that  he  was  unable  to  capture  them.193 

Gautier's  experience  was  even  more  discouraging.  With  a 
party  of  two  hundred  Indians,  made  up  of  Foxes,  Ottawas,  and 
others,  he  crossed  by  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  proceeded  down  that  stream  as  far  as  the  mouth  of 
the  Rock.194  Here  a  party  of  Sacs  whom  he  stopped  to  harangue 
not  only  mocked  his  arguments  and  threats  but  had  the  "insol- 
lance"  to  force  him  to  release  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  his 
followers.  Other  bands  whom  he  addressed  replied  by  threaten- 
ing to  carry  news  of  his  measures  to  the  "Bostonnais,"  as  the 
Americans  were  called.  Like  Langlade,  therefore,  he  was  forced 
to  return  to  Green  Bay. 

The  news  of  Hamilton's  surrender  filled  the  British  at  Detroit 
and  Mackinac  with  forebodings  of  an  immediate  attack.  Appeals 
were  sent  to  Haldimand  for  reinforcements,  while  the  defenses 
at  the  two  posts  were  put  in  readiness  to  withstand  an  assault.195 
The  Indians  reported  to  De  Peyster  that  the  "Virginians"  were 
building  boats  near  Milwaukee,  and  also  that  they  were  near 
Chicago,  but  it  shortly  developed  that  these  statements  were  the 
inventions  of  some  "evil  minded"  Indians.196  De  Peyster  pro- 
fessed not  to  care  how  soon  "Mr.  Clark"  might  appear,  provided 
he  "come  by  Lake  Michigan  &  the  Indians  prove  staunch  & 

•»«  ibid.  •»  ibid. 

»M  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  126. 

"s  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  IX,  387  et  passim;  James,  "  Some  Problems  of  the 
Northwest  in  1779,"  in  Essays  in  American  History,  62. 

"*  Illinois  Historical  Collections,  I,  436. 


92  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

above  all  that  the  Canadians  do  not  follow  the  example  of  their 
brethren  at  the  Illinois  who  have  joined  the  Rebels  to  a  man."197 
Since  there  was  little  likelihood  that  these  conditions  would  be 
realized,  it  is  evident  his  confidence  was  not  very  deep-seated. 

Meanwhile  Clark,  as  a  part  of  his  preparations  for  the  pro- 
jected attack  upon  Detroit,  dispatched  Captain  Linctot,  a 
trader  who  had  recently  joined  the  Americans,  and  who  was 
influential  with  the  Indians,  up  the  Illinois  River  with  a  company 
of  forty  men  to  secure  the  neutrality  of  the  Indians,  and  to  cover 
the  design  of  his  main  expedition.198  On  learning  this,  and  that 
Linctot  had  reached  Lake  Peoria,  De  Peyster  sent  Gautier  with 
a  party  of  Indians  with  orders  to  burn  the  fort,  hoping  thus  to 
intimidate  the  Americans  from  attempting  an  expedition  by 
this  route.199  A  few  days  after  receiving  this  information  a 
report  came  to  De  Peyster  from  St.  Joseph  to  the  effect  that  the 
Americans  were  about  to  send  seven  hundred  men  against 
Detroit  by  way  of  the  Wabash  River,  and  four  hundred  cavalry 
under  Linctot  were  to  come  up  the  Illinois  and  thence  by  St. 
Joseph  to  co-operate  with  them.200  In  consequence  of  this  intel- 
ligence he  detached  Lieutenant  Bennett  with  twenty  men  from 
his  little  force  to  go,  with  sixty  traders  and  canoemen  and  two 
hundred  Indians,  to  intercept  Linctot,  or  to  harass  the  "Rebels" 
in  any  way  possible.201  At  the  same  time  Langlade  was  ordered, 
July  i,  1779,  to  raise  the  savages  of  1'Arbre  Croche,202  Milwaukee, 
and  other  places  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  and  join 
Bennett  at  Chicago,  or  if  he  should  have  passed  that  point,  to 
hasten  to  join  him  before  he  should  reach  Peoria.203 

Bennett  carried  a  war  belt  a  yard  and  a  half  long,  containing 
twelve  thousand  wampum  beads,  and  early  reports  received  from 

•"  Illinois  Historical  Collections,  I,  437. 

••«  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  IX,  389;  James,  "Some  Problems  of  the  Northwest 
in  1779,"  op.  cit.,  378 

'"  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  IX,  389. 

"•  Ibid.,  300.  "'  Ibid. 

"'  A  mission  village  on  Little  Traverse  Bay,  at  this  time  occupied  by  a  band  of  Ottawas. 
See  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  253,  375. 

"j  Ibid.,  375-76. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  93 

him  were  to  the  effect  that  the  savages  were  joining  it  "fast."204 
De  Peyster  himself  accompanied  Langlade  as  far  as  1'Arbre 
Croche,  where,  on  July  4,  he  harangued  the  assembled  Indians. 
At  a  later  date  he  gave  vent  to  his  poetical  propensities  by  turn- 
ing this  speech  into  rhymed  verses  which  constitute  one  of  the 
literary  curiosities  of  the  English  language.205  Its  chief  interest 
for  the  history  of  Chicago  consists  in  the  allusion  to  Baptiste 
Point  Du  Sable,  who  is  said  to  have  already  established  himself 
here. 

From  Peoria  Linctot  and  his  party  crossed  the  country  to 
Ouiatanon,  there  to  join  Clark  in  his  advance.  He  reached 
there  in  August,  accompanied  by  a  large  concourse  of  Indians.206 
By  this  time  Clark  had  abandoned  the  idea  of  an  immediate 
advance  on  Detroit.  Linctot,  therefore,  conceived  the  idea  of 
attacking  St.  Joseph,  to  which  place  Bennett's  party  had  mean- 
while come.207  He  sent  a  message  to  Vincennes  for  reinforce- 
ments, but  the  French  refused  to  respond,  and  the  projected 
attack  was  abandoned.208 

Bennett  was  sufficiently  involved  in  difficulties,  however, 
without  interference  from  Linctot.  On  reaching  St.  Joseph, 
July  23,  he  threw  up  a  slight  intrenchment  and  sent  out  bands 
of  Indians  toward  Peoria,  Ouiatanon,  and  the  Miamis,  to  learn 
of  his  opponents'  movements  and  harass  them  if  practicable.209 
These  parties  shortly  returned  in  a  disaffected  state  without 
having  seen  the  enemy.  On  July  26  Bennett  sent  a  message  to 
Detroit  informing  Captain  Lernault  of  his  movements  and  offer- 
ing to  co-operate  with  him  in  any  practicable  operation.  While 
waiting  an  answer  the  greater  portion  of  his  Indians,  having 

>«  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  IX,  391 ;  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  390. 

"i  Printed  in  De  Peyster's  Miscellanies;  it  may  also  be  found,  with  editorial  notes, 
/h  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  377-90. 

"'  Said  to  have  numbered  6,000,  but  this  is  obviously  a  gross  exaggeration.  (Wis- 
consin Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  376.) 

"» Ibid.,  286,  398. 

«••  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  376;  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections, 
XIX,  467. 

»»  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  398. 


94  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

consumed  his  supplies  and  rum,  deserted.  Langlade,  meanwhile, 
arrived  with  sixty  Chippewas,  who  conducted  themselves  with 
even  greater  insolence  than  the  others.  Finding  himself  helpless 
to  accomplish  anything  Bennett  abandoned  St.  Joseph  about  the 
middle  of  August  and  returned  to  Mackinac.210 

Active  military  operations  in  the  Northwest  for  the  year 
1779  were  now  at  an  end.  Late  in  the  year  De  Peyster  was  sent 
to  Detroit  to  take  the  place  of  Hamilton,  who  had  been  sent 
by  his  captors  to  languish  in  a  Virginia  prison.  Lieutenant- 
governor  Patrick  Sinclair  was  sent  by  Haldimand  to  succeed 
De  Peyster  at  Mackinac.2"  On  the  American  side  Clark  had 
retired  to  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  his  first  base  of  operations  in  the 
Northwest.  Upon  the  declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain 
by  Spain  in  1779,  the  British  proceeded  to  plan  a  comprehensive 
campaign  which  would  sweep  the  whole  western  American 
frontier  from  Canada  to  Florida  and  result  in  destroying  the 
power  of  both  Spain  and  the  colonists  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.212 
From  Pensacola  in  the  South  and  Detroit  in  the  Northwest  as 
centers  of  operation,  the  British  forces  were  to  converge  upon 
lower  Louisiana,  having  taken  St.  Louis  en  route.  Meanwhile, 
to  cover  these  operations,  De  Peyster  from  Detroit  was  to  ad- 
vance on  Clark  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  by  way  of  the  Maumee 
and  Wabash  rivers.  The  execution  of  this  comprehensive 
program  was  rendered  impossible,  even  before  its  initiation,  by 
the  enterprise  of  Galvez,  the  Spanish  governor  at  New  Orleans. 
In  a  series  of  operations  extending  over  two  years  of  time,  he 
cleared  the  British  out  of  the  lower  Mississippi  Valley,  concluding 
the  process  by  the  capture  of  Pensacola  in  May,  i78i.213 

Meanwhile,  ignorant  of  the  successes  of  Galvez  in  the  South, 
the  British  forces  stationed  in  the  Northwest  began,  early  in  the 
year  1780,  the  execution  of  their  part  of  the  general  plan  of 

"'  I  have  drawn  this  narrative  from  Bennett's  Journal,  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Col- 
lections, XVIII,  398-401,  and  the  other  sources  cited  above. 

"•  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  142. 

a»  For  a  statement  of  this  project  see  James,  "Significance  of  the  Attack  on  St.  Louis," 
in  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Association  Proceedings,  II,  199  ff. 

"i  Ibid.,  203-4. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  95 

operations.  The  campaign  was  initiated  by  Sinclair,  who  early 
in  February  sent  a  body  of  Indians  to  engage  the  noted  Sioux 
chief,  Wabasha,  to  descend  the  Mississippi  to  Natchez  with  his 
two  hundred  warriors.214  About  the  middle  of  the  same  month 
Sinclair  ordered  Emanuel  Hesse,  a  trader  who  had  formerly 
served  in  the  British  army,  to  assemble  the  Sacs,  Foxes,  and 
other  Wisconsin  Indians  at  the  Fox- Wisconsin  Portage  and  pro- 
ceed with  them  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  where  the  Indians 
from  the  upper  Mississippi  would  join  them  in  a  descent  upon 
St.  Louis.215  The  services  of  Matchekewis,  who  had  massacred 
the  garrison  at  Mackinac  in  1763,  but  who  now  was  zealously 
serving  the  British,  were  also  enlisted,216  and  it  was  planned  that 
Langlade  with  a  chosen  band  of  Canadians  and  Indians  should 
join  a  party  gathered  at  Chicago  and  lead  them  down  the  Illinois 
River.  Another  party  was  to  "watch  the  Plains"  between  the 
Wabash  and  the  Mississippi,217  while  still  another  and  larger 
expedition  from  Detroit  under  the  command  of  Captain  Henry 
Bird  was  to  descend  the  Wabash  to  "amuse"  Clark  at  the  Falls 
of  the  Ohio.218  Sinclair  believed  St.  Louis  could  easily  be  sur- 
prised and  taken,  and  that  the  traders  who  would  profit  by  the 
English  thus  gaining  control  of  the  rich  "furr  Trade"  of  the 
Missouri  River  would  give  their  assistance  to  the  enterprise.219 
On  May  2,  1780,  the  force  gathered  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wis- 
consin, consisting  of  about  a  thousand  men,  Indians,  traders, 
and  servants,  began  the  descent  of  the  Mississippi.220  The  news 
of  its  approach  was  carried  to  St.  Louis  by  a  trader,  and  the 
Spaniards  made  hasty  preparations  for  defense.221  De  Leyba, 
the  governor,  ordered  a  wooden  tower  to  be  erected  at  one  end 

»"  For  a  secondary  account  of  this  campaign  see  ibid.  For  the  original  documents 
pertaining  to  it  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  III,  XI,  XVIII;  Michigan  Pioneer 
Collections,  IX;  Missouri  Historical  Collections,  II,  No.  6. 

">  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  147-48. 

»'Ibid.,  151.  »i  Ibid. 

"« Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  171;   Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  X,  372,  377,  305. 

»*  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  148. 

MO  James,  "  Significance  of  the  Attack  on  St.  Louis,"  in  Essays  in  A  merican  History,  205. 

>"  Missouri  Historical  Collections,  II,  No.  6,  45;  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections, 
XVIII,  407. 


96  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

of  the  town  in  which  he  placed  five  cannons,  and  intrenchments 
were  constructed  at  the  other  exposed  places.  To  man  these 
defenses  he  had  a  force  of  twenty-nine  regular  soldiers  and  two 
hundred  and  eighty-one  countrymen.  On  May  26  the  hostile 
forces  appeared  and  a  vigorous  firing  began,  to  which  the  besieged 
replied  with  their  cannon.  "Then  were  to  be  heard  the  con- 
fusion and  the  lamentable  cries  of  the  women  and  children  who 
had  been  shut  up  in  the  house  of  the  commandant,  ....  the 
dolorous  echoes  of  which  seemed  to  inspire  in  the  besieged  an 
extraordinary  valor  and  spirit."222  Finally  the  besiegers  aban- 
doned the  assault  on  the  town  itself,  and  devoted  their  attention 
to  ravaging  the  surrounding  country,  where  they  killed  or  cap- 
tured a  number  of  farmers  and  their  slaves.  The  Spaniards 
reported  a  loss  of  twenty-nine  dead  and  wounded  and  twenty- 
four  prisoners  at  St.  Louis  itself,  in  addition  to  forty-six  taken 
captive  in  minor  forays  which  attended  the  invasion.233  Sinclair, 
on  the  other  hand,  reported  that  sixty-eight  of  the  enemy  were 
killed  at  St.  Louis  and  eighteen  taken  prisoners."4 

The  attack  having  failed,  the  British  began  their  retreat. 
According  to  Sinclair  the  defeat  was  caused  by  the  treachery  of 
the  traders  and  part  of  the  Indians.  The  attempt  to  surprise 
the  Spaniards  was  a  failure,  and  in  the  actual  assault  the  Sacs 
and  Foxes,  led  by  certain  of  the  traders,  proved  treacherous.223 
Another,  and  possibly  the  chief,  reason  for  the  retreat  of  the 
British  was  the  arrival  of  George  Rogers  Clark  at  Cahokia  with 
a  small  body  of  men  shortly  before  the  attack  on  St.  Louis 
began.226  Although  he  took  no  part  in  the  fight  at  St.  Louis,  his 
presence  at  Cahokia  across  the  river  was  probably  an  important 
factor  in  determining  the  British  to  give  up  the  enterprise,  and 
he  promptly  organized  an  expedition  to  pursue  and  punish  the 
retreating  forces. 

*"  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  408. 

M»  Ibid.,  409.  The  British  while  proceeding  down  the  Mississippi  had  captured  an 
armed  boat  with  thirteen  men  near  the  mouth  of  the  modern  Turkey  River,  and  in  a  side 
expedition  to  the  lead  mines  seventeen  more  were  taken  (Wisconsin  Historical  Collections, 
XI,  151). 

"«  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  156. 

"s  Ibid.,  155-56.  "'James,  op.  cit.,  210-13. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  97 

The  British  forces  retreated  in  two  divisions,  one  up  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  other  overland  to  Lake  Michigan  and  Mackinac.227 
Clark  now  learned  of  the  advance  of  the  force  from  Detroit  upon 
Kentucky  and  made  haste  to  return  to  its  defense,  having  ordered 
Colonel  Montgomery  to  follow  and  harass  the  forces  retreating 
from  St.  Louis  while  the  Indians  were  still  demoralized  from 
their  recent  defeat.228  Montgomery  with  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men  advanced  up  the  Illinois  River  as  far  as  Lake  Peoria,229  and 
then  crossed  to  Rock  River,  destroying  the  crops  and  villages  of 
the  Indians  on  his  way.  At  this  point  he  was  compelled  to  stop 
through  lack  of  provisions,  and  his  retreat  to  the  French  settle- 
ments was  attended  with  great  hardship  and  suffering. 

The  fortunes  of  the  party  led  by  Langlade  by  way  of  Chicago 
remain  to  be  told.  While  proceeding  down  the  Illinois  it  learned 
of  the  advance  of  Montgomery's  force  and  thereupon  beat  a 
hasty  retreat.230  At  Chicago  the  party  was  rescued  from 
threatened  destruction  at  the  hands  of  a  band  of  Indians  in  the 
"Rebel"  interest  by  a  relieving  party  which  Sinclair  had  sent 
down  Lake  Michigan  in  two  small  vessels.  Sinclair  reported  to 
Haldimand  that  five  days  after  the  vessels  left  Chicago  two 
hundred  Illinois  cavalry  arrived  there,231  but  this  was  evidently  a 
mistaken  rumor  caused  by  the  advance  of  Montgomery's  expedi- 
tion, which,  as  has  been  seen,  came  no  farther  than  Lake  Peoria. 

The  fugitives  from  the  St.  Louis  expedition  had  no  sooner 
gained  shelter  at  Mackinac  than  Sinclair  began  to  plan  for  a 
new  attack  on  the  Illinois  settlements232  the  following  year.  The 

"'  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  IX,  558. 
"«  Virginia  State  Papers,  III,  443. 

"'Montgomery  says  he  went  "to  the  Lake  open  on  the  Illinois  River"  (Virginia 
State  Papers,  III,  443).  Peoria  was  variously  designated  at  this  time  as  the  Pee,  Pey, 
Opie,  etc.  This  designation  is  said-  to  have  originated  as  a  corruption  of  the  French  words 
au  pied,  used  with  reference  to  the  foot  of  the  lake.  Montgomery's  "Lake  open"  was, 
apparently,  but  another  variant  of  the  original  French  form. 

»ao  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  411;  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XI,  558. 
"•  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XI,  558. 

«J  The  settlements  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi  were  referred  to  as  the  settlements 
of  the  Illinois.  In  Navarro's  official  report  concerning  the  attack  on  St.  Louis  in  1780  that 
place  is  designated  "San  Luis  de  Ylinoises"  (Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  407). 


98  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

services  of  Wabasha  were  engaged  anew,  and  Sinclair  assured 
Haldimand  that  one  thousand  Sioux  would  be  in  the  field  under 
his  leadership  by  April,  lySi.233  To  insure  that  secrecy  the 
absence  of  which  had  proved  so  disastrous  to  the  expedition  of 
1780,  Wabasha  came  in  person  to  Mackinac  to  make  the  neces- 
sary arrangements  for  the  enterprise.  But  the  attempt  at  se- 
crecy proved  futile  for  in  December,  Cruzat,  the  new  governor  at 
St.  Louis,234  was  reporting  to  his  superiors  the  news  that  Wabasha 
was  returning  to  his  tribe  from  "Michely  Makinak"  with  a 
great  quantity  of  merchandise  to  arouse  his  own  and  the  neigh- 
boring tribes.235  At  the  same  time  Cruzat  announced  that  he 
had  decided  upon  measures  for  checkmating  the  British  design, 
but  refrained  from  telling  what  they  were  until  after  they  should 
be  executed. 

Whether  Cruzat  alluded  to  the  mysterious  project  of  De  la 
Balme  against  Detroit,  which  had  even  then  come  to  an  unfor- 
tunate end,  or  to  the  forthcoming  Spanish  expedition  against 
St.  Joseph  must  remain  a  matter  of  conjecture.  De  la  Balme 
was  a  French  officer  who  appeared  in  the  Illinois  villages  in  the 
summer  of  1780,  and  rousing  the  villagers  with  the  story  that 
their  former  king  was  coming  to  their  assistance,  announced  his 
own  purpose  to  lead  them  in  an  assault  on  Detroit  and  thence 
on  Canada  itself.236  With  a  little  band  of  French  and  Indians, 
about  eighty  in  number,  flying  the  banner  of  France  at  its  head, 
he  moved  upon  the  British  post  of  Miami  near  the  modern  Fort 
Wayne,  and  captured  and  plundered  it.  The  Indians,  however, 
shortly  attacked  De  la  Balme's  party  in  turn  and  defeated  it,  the 
commander  being  numbered  among  the  slain.237  This  occurred 
at  the  beginning  of  November,  1780. 

«i  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  IX,  559. 

«« De  Leyba  had  died  shortly  after  the  British  attack  of  1780  and  before  the  arrival 
of  the  news  that  his  government  had  promoted  him  for  his  conduct  on  that  occasion  (Wis- 
consin Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  410). 

»3j  Ibid.,  414. 

«•  On  De  la  Balme's  mission  see  Burton,  "  Augustin  Mottin  de  la  Balme,"  in  Illinois 
State  Historical  Society  Transactions,  1909,  104  ff.;  Illinois  Historical  Collections,  II,  Ixviii- 
xciv;  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  416;  Missouri  Historical  Review,  II,  202-3. 

'"  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XIX,  581-82. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  99 

Thus  ended  De  la  Balme's  projected  invasion  of  Canada. 
But  the  episode  of  his  advent  in  the  Northwest  was  attended 
by  further  interesting  consequences.  Before  his  departure  for 
Detroit  he  had  sent  a  detachment  from  Cahokia  under  command 
of  Jean  Baptiste  Hamelin  against  the  post  of  St.  Joseph.238 
There  had  been  no  regular  garrison  here  since  the  massacre  of 
the  British  soldiers  at  the  time  of  Pontiac's  war;  but  the  post 
was  advantageously  located  for  trading  purposes.  It  possessed 
a  further  importance  as  the  gathering-place  of  the  Pottawatomie 
war  parties  sent  out  to  harass  the  Americans,  while  the  fact  that 
a  large  stock  of  goods  had  been  stored  here  by  the  British  traders239 
served  to  increase  the  zeal  of  Hamelin's  men  for  the  assault. 
According  to  a  census  that  has  been  preserved,  St.  Joseph  con- 
tained in  June,  1780,  a  population  of  forty-eight  French  and 
half-breeds.240  During  the  summer  some  of  the  inhabitants  had 
been  carried  off  to  Mackinac  by  Sinclair's  orders,  so  that  at  the 
time  Hamelin  fell  upon  it  the  post  contained  a  smaller  population 
than  it  had  in  June. 

Hamelin's  foray  was  so  timed  as  to  reach  St.  Joseph  early  in 
December,  1780,  when  the  Indians  were  absent  on  their  first 
hunt.241  The  party  numbered  only  seventeen  men;  but  they 
overpowered  the  traders,  loaded  their  goods  on  packhorses,  and 
with  twenty-two  prisoners  beat  a  hasty  retreat  around  the  lake 
toward  Chicago.242  Their  triumph,  however,  was  short  lived. 
In  the  spring  of  the  year  De  Peyster,  who  now  commanded  at 
Detroit,  had  stationed  Lieutenant  De  Quindre  at  St.  Joseph  to 
look  after  the  interests  of  the  British  in  that  region.  He  was 
temporarily  absent  at  the  time  of  Hamelin's  attack,  but,  return- 
ing shortly  afterward,  he  assembled  a  party  of  Pottawatomies 
and  set  out  to  punish  the  audacious  intruders.  Hamelin  was 
overtaken  on  December  5  at  a  place  called  Petite  Fort,  a  day's 

"•  Missouri  Historical  Review,  II,  204. 

"» According  to  a  memoir  by  the  traders  to  Haldimand  for  indemnity  these  amounted 
to  62,000  livres  in  value  (Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  X,  367). 
»«•  Ibid.,  406-7. 
»'Ibid.,  XIX,  591. 
»«» Ibid.;  Virginia  State  Papers,  I,  465. 


100  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

journey  beyond  the  River  Chemin,243  and  in  the  fight  that  ensued 
all  but  three  of  his  party  were  killed  or  taken  prisoners. 

This  comparatively  insignificant  affair,  which  terminated  at 
Chicago's  back  door,  as  it  were,  was  quickly  followed  by  a  second 
attack  upon  St.  Joseph,  the  echoes  of  which  were  heard  in  dis- 
tant Europe.  The  preparations  which  the  English  were  making 
for  a  new  descent  upon  St.  Louis  in  the  spring  of  1781  excited 
the  genuine  alarm  of  Cruzat,  the  new  Spanish  governor.244 
Profiting,  possibly,  by  the  example  set  by  George  Rogers  Clark, 
in  his  attack  upon  Vincennes,  Cruzat  determined  to  anticipate 
the  blow.  On  January  2,  1781,  less  than  a  month  after  the 
disaster  to  the  Americans  at  the  Petite  Fort,  a  Spanish  expedi- 
tion set  out  from  St.  Louis  for  St.  Joseph.245  It  consisted  in  the 
beginning  of  thirty  Spaniards  from  St.  Louis  and  twenty  residents 
of  Cahokia.  On  the  way  across  Illinois  these  were  joined  by  a 
dozen  Spanish  soldiers  who  had  been  sent  up  the  Illinois  River 
in  the  preceding  November  to  serve  as  an  outpost  against  the 
British  in  that  direction.246  In  addition  to  this,  and  of  greater 
importance  doubtless,  the  party  was  joined  by  two  hundred 
Indians.  Included  in  the  latter  were  the  "runagates"  from 
Milwaukee  under  the  leadership  of  Siggenauk  and  Nakewoin, 
whose  tendency  to  side  with  the  Americans  had  long  disturbed 
the  British  commanders  in  the  Northwest.247  In  1779  De 

"«  The  stream  at  the  mouth  of  which  Michigan  City,  Indiana,  now  stands.  Petite  Fort 
has  been  said  to  have  been  near  the  Calumet  River.  I  have  not  succeeded  in  locating  it 
more  definitely  than  is  indicated  above. 

«<«  Missouri  Historical  Review,  V,  223. 

*«s  Three  detailed  studies  of  this  expedition  have  been  made.  The  conclusions  of  the 
first,  by  Edward  G.  Mason,  were  generally  accepted  by  scholars  as  valid  until  Professor 
Clarence  W.  Alvord's  study  appeared.  His  conclusions  differ  materially  from  those 
reached  by  Mason.  More  recently  Frederick  J.  Teggart  has  challenged  Alvord's  conclu- 
sions. For  his  study,  with  references  to  the  earlier  studies  and  the  sources,  see  "The 
Capture  of  St.  Joseph,  Michigan,  by  the  Spaniards  in  1781,"  in  Missouri  Historical  Review, 
V,  214  ff. 

"'Teggart,  op.  cit.,  216. 

•47  De  Peyster's  characterization  of  them  as  "a  horrid  set  of  refractory  Indians"  has 
already  been  mentioned  (Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  384).  Probably  it  was 
this  band  which  had  threatened  to  destroy  the  British  force  at  Chicago  retreating  from 
St.  Louis  in  the  preceding  summer.  For  a  sketch  of  Siggenauk's  career  see  Wisconsin 
Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  384. 


O    U 


o 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  101 

Peyster,  then  at  Mackinac,  had  bribed  a  chief,  Chambolee,  to 
capture  Siggenauk  by  fair  means  or  foul  and  turn  him  over  to 
the  English,  promising  that  in  the  event  of  success  he  would  be 
"weall  rewarded."248  This  attempt  to  secure  the  obnoxious 
chieftain  proved  vain,  however.  At  another  time,  whether 
before  or  after  this  does  not  appear,  De  Peyster  tried  the  plan 
of  buying  off  the  "Runagade  chiefs,"  but  this  too  proved 
futile.249  Some  time  after  the  St.  Joseph  expedition,  however, 
Siggenauk  turned  against  the  Americans. 

The  expedition  proceeded  up  the  Illinois  River  as  far  as 
Lake  Peoria.250  Here,  the  river  having  frozen,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  leave  the  boats  behind  and  continue  the  journey 
on  foot.  It  was  midwinter,  and  before  the  Spaniards  lay  three 
hundred  miles  of  wilderness  infested  with  savages,  who  ( might 
at  any  moment  fall  upon  them.  At  the  end  of  their  march  lay 
the  prospect  of  a  hostile  force  surrounded  by  savages  friendly 
to  it  and  hostile  to  them,  with  their  base  of  supplies,  and  their 
refuge  in  case  of  defeat,  four  hundred  miles  away.  Naturally 
our  only  knowledge  of  the  experiences  of  the  party  on  the  march 
comes  from  the  Spaniards  themselves.  We  may  well  believe, 
however,  that  they  suffered  "the  greatest  inconveniences  from 
cold  and  hunger,"251  not  to  mention  the  labor  of  carrying  through 
the  trackless  wilderness  provisions  for  themselves  and  a  supply 
of  goods  to  be  used  in  placating  the  Indians. 

Three  weeks  were  consumed  in  the  march  from  Lake  Peoria 
to  St.  Joseph.  On  February  n  at  nightfall  the  party  was  within 
two  leagues  of  its  destination.  It  had  had  the  good  fortune  to 
secure  the  assistance  of  Louis  Chevalier,  who  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  St.  Joseph  Indians,  his  father  having  been 
the  principal  trader  and  resident  of  St.  Joseph  for  many  years, 
until  his  arrest  and  removal  by  Sinclair's  order  in  the  summer 

»««  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  210. 
•«  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  X,  454-55. 
•»•  Missouri  Historical  Review,  V,  216. 

"'Madrid  Gazette,  March  12,  1782,  quoted  in  Missouri  Historical  Review,  II,  195. 
For  further  details  of  the  march  see  Teggart,  op.  cit. 


102  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

of  1 78 1.252  While  the  party  halted  an  emissary  was  sent  on  to 
the  Indians  at  the  post,  and  by  promises  of  sharing  the  booty 
with  them  a  pledge  of  neutrality  on  their  part  was  secured. 
Early  the  next  morning,  February  12,  the  Spaniards  crossed  the 
river  on  the  ice  and  made  themselves  masters  of  the  post  without 
a  blow  being  struck.  De  Quindre  was  absent  at  the  time,  and 
all  circumstances  conspired  to  render  the  traders  an  easy  prey 
to  the  invaders.  The  goods  were  divided  between  the  St. 
Joseph  Indians  and  those  accompanying  the  expedition,  and  a 
supply  of  corn,  gathered  in  expectation  of  the  coming  attack 
upon  St.  Louis,  was  destroyed.  The  party  remained  at  St. 
Joseph  only  twenty-four  hours,  but  during  this  time  the  Spanish 
flag  was  kept  flying  and  formal  possession  was  taken  of  the 
country  in  the  name  of  the  king  of  Spain.  A  hasty  retreat  was 
then  begun,  and  the  party  arrived  at  St.  Louis  early  in  March 
without  the  loss  of  a  man.  On  the  day  after  its  departure  from 
St.  Joseph  De  Quindre  returned  to  that  place.  He  sought  to 
rouse  the  Indians,  as  he  had  done  on  the  former  occasion,  to 
pursue  the  invaders,  but  this  time  without  success.  Their  zeal 
for  such  exploits  had  evaporated,  and  they  insisted  on  being  led 
in  the  opposite  direction  to  Detroit,  to  make  their  excuses  to 
De  Peyster  for  having  allowed  their  traders  to  be  carried  off. 

The  importance  which  later  came  to  be  attached  to  this 
expedition  was  due  to  its  bearing  upon  the  political  rather  than 
upon  the  military  situation.  It  has  generally  been  supposed  by 
historians  that  the  expedition  was  inspired  by  the  Spanish  Court 
to  furnish  the  basis  for  laying  claim  in  the  peace  negotiations  to 
the  British  Northwest.  The  latest  student  of  the  subject  rejects 
this  supposition,253  as  also  the  further  one  that  when  the  news  of 
the  successful  termination  of  the  exploit  became  known  in  Spain 
the  Court  proceeded  to  turn  it  to  political  advantage  by  founding 
extravagant  claims  upon  it.  That  Vergennes,  the  French  minis- 
ter, and  Aranda,  the  representative  of  Spain  in  the  negotiations 
for  the  treaty,  made  such  use  of  it  is  admitted.  In  1780, 

•»»  For  the  elder  Chevalier  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  372. 
'"  Teggart,  in  Missouri  Historical  Review,  V,  220-23. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  103 

the  year  before  the  expedition  against  St.  Joseph  occurred,  the 
French  minister,  Luzerne,  announced  to  Congress  the  view  of 
the  Spanish  king  that  the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi  and 
north  of  the  Ohio  belonged  to  Great  Britain  and  was  a  proper 
object  of  Spanish  conquest.  Two  years  later,  in  the  summer  of 
1782,  in  discussing  with  Jay  the  boundary  between  the  posses- 
sions of  Spain  and  the  United  States,  the  Spanish  representative 
argued  that  the  western  country  had  belonged  to  Great  Britain 
until  by  conquest  during  the  Revolution  it  came  into  the  pos- 
session of  Spain.  The  contention  was  not  established,  but  the 
evident  design  of  France  and  Spain  to  advance  the  interests  of 
the  latter  in  America  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States  induced 
the  American  negotiators  to  conclude  a  separate  treaty  with 
England,  in  violation  not  only  of  their  instructions  but  also  of 
the  treaty  of  alliance  between  the  United  States  and  France  in 
1778. 

The  remainder  of  the  story  of  the  Revolution  in  the  North- 
west can  quickly  be  told.  Clark  still  dreamed  of  an  expedition 
against  Detroit,  and  both  Jefferson,  governor  of  Virginia,  and 
General  Washington  looked  with  favor  upon  the  project  and 
held  out  promises  of  the  necessary  assistance.254  For  the  year 
1781  a  force  of  two  thousand  men  was  promised  Clark,  and 
Colonel  Brodhead  at  Fort  Pitt  was  ordered  by  Washington  to 
assist  him  with  troops  and  supplies.  But  Clark  was  doomed 
again  to  disappointment.  Jefferson  resigned  the  gubernatorial 
office,  and  Washington  was  engrossed  in  his  contest  with  Clinton 
and  Cornwallis  which  was  to  end  in  the  capture  of  the  latter  at 
Yorktown.  The  British  on  their  part  manifested  great  activity 
during  1781  in  raiding  the  settlements  along  the  Ohio  River. 
The  harassed  settlers,  less  far-sighted  than  Clark,  were  little 
disposed  to  engage  in  a  distant  expedition;  a  force  of  over  one 
hundred  men  descending  the  Ohio  to  join  Clark  was  cut  to  pieces 
in  August  by  a  combined  British  and  Indian  force  sent  out  from 
Detroit  by  De  Peyster,  every  man  being  killed  or  captured. 

««  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  chap,  xi;  James,  "  George  Rogers  Clark  and  Detroit, 
1780-1781,"  in  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Association,  Proceedings,  III,  291  ff. 


104  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  victors  even  considered  the  project  of  attacking  Clark,  who 
was  now  in  his  stockade  fort  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  impatiently 
awaiting  the  assembling  of  the  forces  for  his  projected  expedition. 
By  order  of  the  Virginia  Assembly  this  was  again  postponed. 
Clark's  disappointment  was  keen,  for  as  far  as  any  positive 
action  was  concerned,  his  projects  for  the  year  had  completely 
failed.  From  another  point  of  view,  however,  the  prospect  was 
less  dismal.  If  he  had  failed  to  take  Detroit,  the  failure  of  the 
British  plans  for  ousting  the  Americans  from  the  Northwest  had 
been  no  less  signal.  And  the  sequel  proved  that  Clark's  stubborn 
retention  of  the  grip  on  this  region,  which  he  had  gained  in  1779, 
was  the  principal  factor  in  securing  it  to  the  United  States  in 
the  negotiations  which  resulted  in  the  treaty  of  1783. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST 

Long  before  the  issue  of  the  military  struggle  a  contest  of 
another  sort  for  the  possession  of  the  Northwest  had  begun. 
France  and  Spain  had  entered  into  the  conflict  between  Great 
Britain  and  her  American  colonies  from  no  love  of  the  latter,  but 
rather  from  a  desire  on  the  one  hand  to  humble  Great  Britain,  on 
the  other  to  advance  their  own  interests.  With  the  opening  of 
the  peace  negotiations,  therefore,  an  effort  was  made  by  these 
countries  to  limit  the  boundary  of  the  new  nation  on  the  west  to 
the  Allegheny  Mountains,  and  to  give  the  dominant  influence 
over  the  vast  territory  stretching  thence  to  the  Mississippi, 
together  with  the  exclusive  navigation  of  that  stream,  to  Spain. 
That  the  project  failed,  and  the  Mississippi  was  made  the  western 
boundary  of  the  new  nation,  was  due  in  part  to  the  shrewdness 
and  persistence  of  the  American  diplomats,  in  part  to  the  com- 
plaisance of  Great  Britain  herself.  Her  representatives  did  not 
hesitate  to  reject  the  temptation  offered  of  an  alliance  with  the 
two  continental  monarchies  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  their 
own  projects  at  the  expense  of  her  former  colonies,  in  favor  of 
such  a  settlement  with  the  latter  as  would,  by  making  possible 
their  future  development,  secure  their  friendship  and  good  will. 
By  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  therefore,  the  Northwest  was  secured 
to  the  United  States,  its  boundaries  being  a  middle  line  through 
the  Great  Lakes,  and  on  the  west  the  Mississippi  River. 

The  prospect  thus  opened  for  an  early  reconciliation  between 
the  mother  country  and  her  revolted  colonies  did  not,  unfortu- 
nately, materialize.  The  war  had  left  Great  Britain  burdened 
with  a  vast  debt,  her  dominion  curtailed  by  more  than  a  million 
square  miles  of  her  finest  territory,  her  prestige  no  less  seriously 
damaged,  and  her  ancient  foe  across  the  Channel  glorying  in 
the  humiliation  which  had  overtaken  her.  It  was,  perhaps,  too 

105 


106  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

much  to  expect,  in  view  of  all  these  things,  that  the  mother 
country  should  at  once  receive  the  disobedient  daughter  to  her 
bosom,  without  attempting  in  any  way  to  manifest  her  resent- 
ment for  the  humiliation  she  had  suffered. 

Furthermore,  conditions  in  America  at  the  close  of  the  war 
were  such  as  to  breed  irritation  and  hostility  between  the  two 
countries.  The  Revolution  had  been  in  a  very  real  sense  a  civil 
war.  Upward  of  one- third  of  the  American  colonists  had  sided 
with  the  British,  and  in  their  ranks  were  to  be  found  the  major 
portion  of  the  colonists  who  were  endowed  with  wealth,  good 
birth,  and  education.  Between  these  loyalists,  or  " Tories,"  and 
the  "patriots,"  whose  cause  had  now  triumphed,  the  most  intense 
feeling  of  bitterness  existed.  Even  as  wise  and  conservative  a 
man  as  Franklin  shared  the  general  feeling  of  resentment  toward 
the  loyalists  and  was  ready  to  justify  the  confiscation  of  their 
estates.  Yet  they  had  risked  their  all  for  the  sake  of  the  mother 
country,  and  Great  Britain's  honor  was  involved  in  securing 
them  against  being  punished  for  their  loyalty  and  devotion  to  her 
interests.  A  futile  attempt  was  made  during  the  peace  negotia- 
tions to  insure  their  protection,  and  its  total  failure,  while  natural 
enough  in  view  of  the  circumstances,  furnished  one  of  the  ele- 
ments making  for  discord  later  on  between  the  two  countries. 

There  were  other  causes  of  discord  and,  in  fact,  neither  the 
United  States  nor  Great  Britain  honestly  tried  to  fulfil  all  the 
obligations  they  had  entered  into.  One  of  the  leading  sources 
of  trouble  pertained  to  the  situation  in  the  Northwest.  Great 
Britain  had  agreed  to  withdraw  her  armies  from  all  places  in  the 
United  States  "with  all  convenient  speed."  This  obligation  was 
kept  elsewhere,  but  it  was  calmly  and  deliberately  broken  as  far 
as  the  northwestern  posts  were  concerned.255  The  demands  of 
the  American  government  for  evacuation  were  met  by  evasion 
and,  later,  by  open  refusal,  and  even  an  explanation  of  the 
reasons  for  this  course  was  long  withheld.  Finally  the  pretense 

2"  The  standard  study  of  this  subject  is  McLaughlin's  "  Western  Posts  and  the  British 
Debts,"  in  American  Historical  Association,  A  nnual  Report,  1894,  413  ff.  See  also  Roosevelt, 
Winning  of  the  West,  Vol.  IV. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  107 

was  urged  that  the  posts  were  being  held  as  a  guaranty  of  the 
fulfilment  by  the  Americans  of  their  own  treaty  obligations. 
That  we  were  justly  chargeable  with  failure  in  this  respect  is 
clear;  but  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  British  determination  to 
retain  the  posts  antedated  our  infractions  of  the  treaty,  and  that 
the  claim  that  they  were  being  held  because  of  American  viola- 
tions of  the  treaty  was  a  mere  afterthought,  put  forward  by  way 
of  excuse  for  a  policy  in  itself  indefensible. 

The  real  reasons  for  the  British  policy  with  reference  to  the 
Northwest  were  the  desire  to  retain  control  of  the  fur  trade  and 
of  the  Indian  tribes  of  that  region.  In  one  sense  these  two 
reasons  coalesce,  but  to  some  extent  they  may  be  distinguished. 
The  fur  trade  constituted  Canada's  chief  commercial  asset,  and 
the  Canadians  had  looked  upon  the  concessions  contained  in  the 
treaty  of  1783  as  needlessly  generous  to  the  Americans  and  fatal 
to  their  own  prosperity.  To  retain  this  trade  the  Americans 
must  be  shut  out  of  the  Northwest,  and  to  this  end  the  posts 
must  be  retained.  Further  than  this,  it  was  an  obvious  fact 
that  in  time  of  war  the  Indian  would  side  with  the  party 
with  whom  he  traded  in  time  of  peace.  By  her  control  of 
the  Indian  trade  and  the  exclusion  of  the  Americans  from 
the  Northwest  Great  Britain  assured  herself  that  in  case  of 
a  future  war  with  America  or  Spain  the  tomahawk  and  scalp- 
ing knife  might  once  more  be  called  into  requisition  against 
her  enemy.256 

To  these  considerations  was  joined  another,  which  proved 
potent  to  fill  the  Northwest  with  strife  and  bloodshed  for  a  dozen 
years  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  It  shortly  became  the 
aim  of  Great  Britain  to  secure  to  the  powerful  tribes  in  western 
New  York  and  in  the  territory  west  and  north  of  the  Ohio  River 
the  retention  of  their  lands.  They  would  thus  serve  the  purpose 
of  a  buffer  state  between  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and 
would,  by  proper  management  of  the  Indians,  render  permanent 
the  grip  which  the  Canadian  merchants  had  on  the  fur  trade.  To 
secure  these  ends  the  British  sought  to  keep  the  Indians  united 

««  McLaughlin,  op.  cit.,  430. 


io8  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

and  to  influence  them  not  to  yield  too  readily  to  the  blandish- 
ments or  threats  of  the  Americans.  The  attempt  was  made  to 
establish  a  sort  of  guardianship  over  the  Indian  tribes  and  to 
require  that  interviews  between  them  and  the  Americans  be  held 
in  the  presence  of  Canadian  officials  or  in  places  where  the  British 
influence  might  be  made  manifest.  In  all  this  the  home  govern- 
ment refrained  from  instigating  the  Indians  to  war  upon  the 
Americans,  and  steadily  instructed  its  representatives  to  encour- 
age them  to  keep  the  peace.  But  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  its 
attitude  toward  them  was  productive  of  a  state  of  affairs  and  an 
attitude  of  mind  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  which  made  war  with 
the  Americans  inevitable.257  At  last  the  British  officials  lost 
their  earlier  solicitude  for  the  preservation  of  peace,  and  in  the 
period  immediately  preceding  Wayne's  victory  of  1794  they 
openly  encouraged  the  Indians  to  make  war  on  the  Americans, 
and  supplied  them  with  the  guns,  ammunition,  and  other  pro- 
visions which  made  their  long  resistance  possible.258 

We  may  now  turn  to  a  consideration  of  the  relations  between 
the  Americans  and  the  Indians  on  the  northwestern  frontier  in 
the  period  which  falls  between  the  close  of  the  Revolution  and  the 
Treaty  of  Greenville  of  1795.  By  the  close  of  the  Revolution  two 
important  steps  had  been  taken  in  the  direction  of  opening  the 
Northwest  to  settlement.  The  claims  of  the  various  states  to 
a  portion  or  all  of  this  region  had  been  ceded  to  the  national 
government,  and  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  the  sovereignty  of  the 
United  States  as  against  foreign  nations  had  been  recognized. 
It  remained  to  quiet  the  Indian  title  to  the  lands  in  question,  and, 
in  this  connection,  to  overcome  their  opposition  to  their  settle- 
ment by  the  whites. 

Encouraged  by  the  British  officials,  the  Indians  at  first  strenu- 
ously resisted  the  American  claim  to  sovereignty  north  and  west 
of  the  Ohio  River.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  however, 
various  treaties  were  entered  into  between  the  United  States  and 
the  different  tribes  providing  for  the  cession  to  the  former  of  lands 

's?  McLaughlin,  op.  oil.,  435. 

«•  Ibid.,  436;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  Vol.  IV,  passim. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  109 

beyond  the  Ohio.259  Such  treaties  were  made  at  Fort  Mclntosh, 
January  21,  1785,  and  at  Fort  Finney,  January  31,  1786.  But 
only  a  portion  of  the  tribes  concerned  participated  in  these 
treaties;  those  who  opposed  the  cessions  saw  in  them  only  an 
incitement  to  hostilities.  In  the  summer  of  1786  the  disaffected 
ones  gathered  in  council  at  Niagara,  and  an  ineffectual  effort  was 
made  to  unite  them  in  a  war  upon  the  Americans.  Meanwhile 
raiding  went  on  along  the  border,  and  Congress  was  impotent  to 
protect  it  by  waging  war  upon  the  hostile  tribes.260  Thereupon 
the  Kentuckians  to  the  number  of  twelve  hundred  gathered  under 
the  leadership  of  George  Rogers  Clark  to  chastise  the  tribes  on 
their  own  account.  But  the  force  was  poorly  organized.  Clark 
had  lost  the  qualities  of  dauntless  leadership  for  which  he  had 
been  distinguished  a  few  years  before,  and  the  expedition  accom- 
plished little  or  nothing.261 

Meanwhile  the  rush  of  settlers  into  the  lands  west  of  the 
Alleghenies  went  on  apace.  Owing  to  the  Indian  menace  north 
of  the  Ohio,  for  the  first  few  years  following  the  close  of  the 
Revolution  this  settlement  was  practically  confined  to  the  region 
south  of  that  river.  It  was  only  a  question  of  time,  however, 
when  the  Indian  barrier  would  be  broken  down.  The  famous 
ordinance  of  1787  made  provision  for  civil  government  and  for 
the  ultimate  formation  of  states  in  the  Northwest.  In  the  same 
year  Congress  sold  to  the  Ohio  Company  five  million  acres  of 
land,  and  provision  was  made  for  a  territorial  government,  of 
which  General  St.  Clair  was  to  become  the  first  chief  executive. 
In  1788  the  Ohio  Company  formally  inaugurated  its  enterprise  by 
founding  Marietta  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  and  the  tide 
of  immigration  into  the  Northwest  may  be  said  to  have  fairly 
begun.262  The  opposition  of  the  Indians  was,  naturally,  not  con- 
ciliated by  these  developments.  In  1789  St.  Clair  negotiated  a 

«» For  an  account  of  these  treaties  see  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  267  ff.  The 
treaties  themselves  are  printed  in  American  Slate  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  and  in  the 
various  collections  of  treaties  between  the  United  States  and  the  Indian  tribes. 

""  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  274.  *»  Ibid.,  275. 

'<"  For  a  description  of  this  movement  see  ibid.,  chap.  xiv. 


no  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

treaty  with  certain  of  the  tribes  at  Fort  Harmar,  which,  in  effect, 
confirmed  the  grants  to  the  United  States  north  of  the  Ohio 
which  had  been  made  by  the  treaties  of  Fort  Mclntosh  and  Fort 
Finney.263  But  a  large  portion  of  the  tribes  affected  held  aloof 
and  took  no  part  in  the  treaty. 

It  is  clear  today,  as  it  was  to  those  actually  on  the  frontier  at 
the  time,  that  with  both  parties  determined  to  possess  the  North- 
west war  in  earnest  between  the  red  men  and  the  white  was 
inevitable.  When  once  the  issue  was  fairly  joined  the  ultimate 
outcome  could  hardly  remain  a  matter  of  doubt,  yet  the  govern- 
ment entered  upon  the  war  with  extreme  reluctance,  and  only 
after  a  flood  of  appeals  from  the  frontier  for  protection  had  been 
poured  upon  it.264  Several  causes  operated  to  produce  this  hesi- 
tation. The  new  government,  feeble  and  lacking  in  resources, 
dreaded  the  expense.  The  hostile  tribes  were  more  numerous 
and  formidable  than  any  combination  the  red  race  had  ever  yet 
brought  into  the  field  against  the  white.  They  gathered  in 
bodies  so  large  as  fairly  to  deserve  the  name  of  armies,  and 
fought  pitched  battles  with  American  armies  as  large  as  those 
commanded  by  Washington  at  Trenton  or  by  Greene  at  Eutaw 
Springs.265  Finally  the  government  was  actuated  by  an  honest 
desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  Indians  and  to  discharge 
scrupulously  all  of  its  treaty  obligations  toward  them.266 

In  1790  the  hovering  war  cloud  burst.  The  Indians  forced 
the  issue  by  intercepting  and  plundering  the  boats  conveying 
settlers  down  the  Ohio,  the  main  avenue  of  travel  into  the  western 
country.  In  July  St.  Clair,  the  governor  of  the  Northwest 
Territory,  called  upon  the  state  of  Kentucky  for  troops,  author- 
ized the  raising  of  the  militia  of  the  western  counties  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Virginia,  and  set  his  own  forces  in  motion.  The  main 
expedition  was  sent  from  Fort  Washington  against  the  Miamis, 

>«3  Winsor,  op.  cit.,  308-10. 

a"4  Roosevelt,  op.  cit.,  IV,  9,  18,  27  el  passim. 

"s  Ibid.,  IV,  17-18. 

'"  Ibid.,  9,  17;  see,  also,  documents  pertaining  to  the  establishment  by  the  govern- 
ment of  Indian  trading  houses,  in  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vols.  I  and  II, 
passim. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  in 

under  command  of  General  Harmar.267  In  October  he  set  out 
with  fourteen  hundred  men  for  the  hostile  villages.  Rumor 
going  in  advance  multiplied  the  numbers  of  his  little  army,  so 
that  the  Indians  made  no  attempt  at  resistance.  The  towns  at 
the  junction  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph  rivers  were  found 
deserted  and  were  destroyed.  At  this  point  Harmar  divided  his 
force,  sending  out  detachments  in  various  directions.  These 
were  severely  handled,  though  they  inflicted  perhaps  an  equal 
loss  upon  the  Indians.  The  whole  body  shortly  made  a  dis- 
orderly retreat,  and  the  campaign  was  ended.  No  great  disaster 
had  been  suffered,  but  the  army  had  lost  two  hundred  men  and 
the  net  result  had  been  a  "mortifying  failure." 

That  the  Indians  were  not  cowed  by  Harmar  was  shown  by 
the  prompt  renewal  of  their  marauding  expeditions.  Early  in 
the  year  1791  they  raided  the  New  England  settlements  near 
Marietta,  killing  a  dozen  persons  and  carrying  half  as  many  more 
into  captivity.268  This  is  but  typical  of  further  raids  which 
continued  throughout  the  winter.  Meanwhile  the  Americans 
were  preparing  another  expedition.  Washington  asked  and 
received  permission  from  Congress  to  raise  three  thousand  troops 
to  be  placed  under  St.  Clair's  command.  To  protect  the  frontier 
while  this  army  was  being  made  ready,  bodies  of  rangers 
composed  of  the  more  capable  and  daring  bordermen  were 
employed.26'  Moving  in  small  parties  and  fighting  the  Indian 
in  his  own  fashion,  they  performed  much  effective  service.  In 
addition  to  this  measure  the  Kentuckians  were  authorized  to 
conduct  two  raids  upon  the  enemy.  Each  expedition  consisted 
of  several  hundred  mounted  volunteers  under  experienced  lead- 
ers. Each  succeeded  in  harrying  a  number  of  villages,  with 
almost  no  loss  to  the  raiders  themselves. 

The  gathering-place  for  St.  Clair's  expedition  was,  as  in  the 
case  of  Harmar,  Fort  Washington.  According  to  the  plan 
adopted  he  was  to  have  here  three  thousand  effective  troops  by 

•"  For  Harmar's  expedition  see  Winsor,  op.  tit.,  417-20;  Roosevelt,  op.  tit.,  Ill, 
304-10. 

*•  Roosevelt,  op.  tit.,  IV,  19-20.  •«»  Ibid.,  28-30. 


H2  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

July  10,  1791.  But  not  until  July  15  did  the  first  regiment  of 
three  hundred  men  arrive,  and  it  was  October  before  he  could 
count  two  thousand  effective  men.270  From  beginning  to  end, 
this  first  great  military  enterprise  of  the  new  government  was 
woefully  mismanaged.  The  supplies  provided  were  poor,  the 
commissary  department  was  both  inefficient  and  corrupt,  the 
commander  was  sick  and  incapable,  and  the  troops  themselves 
were  "wretched  stuff."271  Aside  from  two  small  regiments  of 
infantry,  the  army  was  composed  of  six  months'  levies,  and  of 
militia  enrolled  for  this  particular  campaign.  In  its  desire  to 
economize  Congress  had  fixed  the  net  pay  of  the  soldiers  at  two 
dollars  and  ten  cents  a  month.  The  judgment  passed  by  one  who 
observed  the  force  that  "men  who  are  to  be  purchased  from 
prisons,  wheelbarrows,  and  brothels  at  two  dollars  a  month  will 
never  answer  for  fighting  Indians"  was  amply  justified  by  the 
sequel.272 

Early  in  October  the  advance  began.273  St.  Glair's  instruc- 
tions required  him  to  establish  a  permanent  fort  at  the  Miami 
village  and  to  maintain  such  a  garrison  in  it  as  would  enable  him 
to  detach  five  or  six  hundred  men  for  special  service  as  occasion 
should  require.  He  advanced  at  a  snail's  pace,  the  army  march- 
ing but  five  or  six  miles  a  day.  In  this  way,  stopping  now  and 
then  to  build  a  fort  or  delayed  by  lack  of  food,  the  commander 
sick,  the  troops  disorderly  and  demoralized,  with  almost  no  effort 
to  prevent  surprise,  the  army  stumbled  northward  through  the 
wilderness.  At  the  end  of  October,  with  the  enemy  in  striking 
distance,  some  sixty  of  the  militia  deserted  in  a  body,  and  the 
unfortunate  commander  made  the  fatal  blunder  of  sending  back 
one  of  his  two  regiments  of  regulars  after  them. 

Perhaps  it  was  just  as  well,  for  a  larger  force  would  have 
resulted  only  in  a  greater  slaughter.  On  November  3  the  army 
encamped  on  a  branch  of  the  Wabash  near  the  middle  point  of  the 

•'«  Winsor,  op.  cit.,  428.  •"  Roosevelt,  op.  cit.,  TV,  30. 

171  Winsor,  op.  cit.,  426. 

•"  Roosevelt  (Winning  of  the  West,  IV,  30-52)  gives  a  detailed  and  graphic  account 
of  St.  Clair's  campaign,  with  references  to  much  of  the  important  source  material.  For 
St.  Clair's  official  reports  see  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  136-38. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  113 

western  boundary  of  Ohio.  The  main  body  of  the  army  huddled 
together  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  stream,  while  the  militia 
camped  on  the  opposite  side.  Shortly  after  sunrise  the  next 
morning  the  Indians  fell  in  fury  upon  this  exposed  detachment, 
and  a  battle  ensued  similar  in  character  and  in  magnitude  of 
horror  and  disaster  to  the  defeat  of  the  ill-fated  Braddock.  Con- 
cealed behind  logs  and  trees  the  savages  poured  a  steady  fire  upon 
the  doomed  army.  The  troops  drawn  up  in  close  array,  unable 
even  to  see  their  foe,  fired  vain  volleys  into  the  forest.  A  heavy 
pall  of  smoke  soon  overhung  the  army,  under  cover  of  which  the 
agile  savages  darted  again  and  again  into  the  lines  of  the  troops, 
tomahawking  their  chosen  victims  and  slipping  deftly  away 
before  the  enraged  but  slower  soldiers  could  retaliate.  The 
officers  displayed  conspicuous  bravery,  encouraging  their  men 
and  leading  them  again  and  again  in  bayonet  charges  against 
their  tormenters.  But  the  savages  only  retired  before  their 
advance  to  fall  upon  them  the  moment  they  turned;  and  at  times 
the  charging  parties,  isolated  from  the  main  body,  fought  their 
way  back  with  difficulty. 

A  more  terrible  scene  can  scarcely  be  pictured.  The  bravery 
and  exertions  of  the  troops  were  all  in  vain  against  such  a- foe. 
For  two  hours  the  slaughter  went  on,  while  the  wounded  were 
gathered  to  the  center  and  the  officers  strove  to  keep  the  lines 
intact.  At  last  the  men  became  demoralized.  In  ever  larger 
numbers  they  deserted  their  posts  to  huddle  terror  stricken 
among  the  wounded.  Seeing  that  all  was  lost  and  that  the  army 
could  be  saved  from  complete  destruction  only  by  an  immediate 
retreat,  St.  Clair  gathered  such  fragments  of  battalions  as  he 
could  and  ordered  a  charge  to  regain  the  road  by  which  the  army 
had  advanced. 

A  vigorous  charge  drove  the  Indians  back  beyond  the  road, 
and  through  the  opening  the  demoralized  troops  pressed,  to  use 
the  expressive  phrase  of  an  eyewitness,  "like  a  drove  of  bul- 
locks."274 The  pursuit  was  delayed  for  a  short  time,  apparently 
because  the  Indians  failed  at  once  to  grasp  the  significance  of  the 

"« Roosevelt,  op.  cit.,  IV,  44. 


U4  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

new  movement;  they  soon  fell  upon  the  rear,  however,  and 
slaughtered  without  hindrance  the  terror-stricken  fugitives, 
whose  only  thought  was  to  get  away.  In  the  mad  rout  the 
soldiers,  crazed  by  fear,  threw  away  their  weapons  as  they  ran; 
the  stronger  and  swifter  rode  down  the  weak;  while  the  slower 
and  the  wounded  fell  to  the  rear,  and  by  furnishing  occupation 
for  the  tomahawk  and  the  scalping  knife  purchased  temporary 
respite  for  their  more  fortunate  comrades.  The  savages  drew  off 
after  they  had  followed  the  fleeing  mob  in  this  way  for  about  four 
miles,  possibly  because  for  once  they  were  satiated  with  slaughter, 
more  probably  because  lured  by  the  plunder  of  the  camp.  The 
soldiers  continued  their  flight  for  twenty-five  miles  pursued  only 
by  the  terrors  evoked  by  their  superheated  imagination.  At 
nightfall  they  streamed  into  Fort  Jefferson;  here  some  of  the 
wounded  who  had  escaped  were  left,  and  the  army  continued  to 
flee  till  Fort  Washington,  the  starting-point  of  the  campaign, 
was  reached. 

Thus  terminated  the  most  disastrous  campaign  ever  waged 
by  an  American  army  against  the  Indians.  St.  Clair  had  lost 
in  killed  and  wounded  over  nine  hundred  men.  There  were  no 
prisoners,  practically,  for  the  savages  slew  all  but  a  few  of  those 
who  fell  into  their  hands.  Only  about  one-third  of  St.  Glair's 
men  actually  engaged  in  the  battle  of  the  fatal  fourth  of  Novem- 
ber escaped  uninjured.  Yet  during  the  battle  the  Americans 
had  scarcely  seen  the  foe.  St.  Clair,  judging  from  the  destruc- 
tive rifle  fire  poured  in  upon  his  ranks,  reported  that  he  had 
been  overwhelmed  by  numbers,  but  this  may  well  be  doubted. 
Neither  the  number  nor  the  loss  of  the  red  men  is  known  with  any 
certainty;  that  the  latter  was  slight  is,  however,  apparent,  and 
Roosevelt's  estimate  that  it  may  not  have  amounted  to  one- 
twentieth  that  of  the  whites  seems  not  at  all  improbable.275 

Fighting  with  the  victors  were  two  men  whom  we  shall  meet 
again  in  the  annals  of  early  Chicago.  The  one  was  Little  Turtle, 
the  famous  Miami  chieftain,  who  is  generally  supposed  to  have 
been  the  leader  of  the  Indians  this  day;  the  other,  his  son-in-law, 

"»  Roosevelt,  op.  cit.,  IV,  47. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  115 

Captain  William  Wells,  member  of  a  prominent  Kentucky 
family,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians  in  boyhood 
and  adopted  into  the  tribe.  In  this  battle  he  is  said  to  have  slain 
several  of  the  Americans  with  his  own  hand.276  Soon  after  this 
he  abandoned  the  Indians,  and  henceforth  fought  valiantly  in 
behalf  of  his  native  race  until  he  fell  gloriously,  over  twenty  years 
later,  in  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre. 

The  overthrow  of  St.  Glair's  army  made  necessary  another 
campaign  against  the  triumphant  tribesmen  unless  the  United 
States  was  to  surrender  her  pretensions  to  that  sovereignty  over 
the  Northwest  which  had  been  recognized  in  the  treaty  of  1783. 
Yet  three  years  now  elapsed  before  the  final  blow  was  struck 
against  the  Indian  power  in  this  region.  Their  easy  triumph  over 
St.  Clair  resulted  in  a  great  accession  both  to  the  number  and 
spirit  of  the  warring  bands.  Encouraged  by  the  British,  whose 
attitude  toward  the  Americans  during  this  period,  as  manifested 
by  such  officials  as  Simcoe  and  Lord  Dorchester,  became  increas- 
ingly hostile,  they  maintained  the  attitude  that  they  had  not  by 
any  valid  treaty  surrendered  any  portion  of  the  territory  north 
of  the  Ohio,  and  continued  to  send  their  war  parties  in  ever- 
increasing  numbers  against  the  "deluded  settlers"  of  the  north- 
western frontier.  The  United  States  again  tried  vainly  to  secure 
peace  by  negotiation.  The  sanctity  which  hedges  an  ambassador 
about,  familiar  even  to  savages,  was  violated  in  the  murder  of 
Colonel  Hardin  and  Major  Trueman,  who  were  sent  as  envoys  to 
the  hostile  tribes  in  the  spring  of  1792.  Despite  this,  the  effort 
to  bring  about  a  peace  was  vainly  continued  throughout  the  year 
1792  and  the  spring  of  irjg$.2r!  At  last,  there  being  no  other 
alternative,  the  government  made  definite  plans  for  a  new 
campaign. 

The  preparations  had  already  been  begun  and  Anthony 
Wayne  had  been  chosen  by  Washington,  though  with  great  re- 
luctance, to  succeed  St.  Clair  as  commander.278  In  Washington's 

"« Ibid.,  79.  •"  Ibid.,  52  ff . 

"•  On  the  selection  of  Wayne  to  succeed  St.  Clair  see  Winsor,  Westward  Movement, 
430-40. 


Ii6  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

opinion  he  was  vain,  open  to  flattery,  easily  imposed  upon, 
and  "liable  to  be  drawn  into  scrapes."  In  spite  of  this  he  was 
considered  the  best  man  available,  and  his  conduct  following  his 
appointment  brilliantly  refuted  the  prevalent  opinion  of  his  lack 
of  judgment.  If  there  ever  had  been  ground  for  Washington's 
low  opinion  of  Wayne's  prudence,  certain  it  is  that  he  afforded 
none  by  his  measures  in  this  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  Northwest. 
His  bravery  was  questioned  by  no  one,  and  he  had  long  been 
recognized  as  the  most  active  and  enterprising  officer  in  the  army. 

In  the  autumn  of  1792  Wayne  established  a  camp  on  the  Ohio 
about  seven  miles  below  Pittsburgh,  and  began  the  difficult  task 
of  organizing  the  remnant  of  St.  Clair's  army  and  the  new 
recruits  that  were  being  enlisted  into  an  efficient  "legion," 
which  should  be  able  to  face  the  red  foe  with  some  prospect  of 
success.279  During  the  winter  his  troops,  which  by  springtime 
numbered  twenty-five  hundred  men,  were  drilled  incessantly. 
In  May,  1793,  he  moved  down  the  Ohio  to  Fort  Washington, 
near  which  place  he  established  a  camp  and  called  on  the 
Kentucky  volunteers  to  come  to  his  assistance.  The  govern- 
ment was  still  carrying  on  futile  negotiations  with  the  hostile 
tribes,  and  not  until  October  was  Wayne  given  permission  to 
launch  the  campaign.  He  then  advanced  about  eighty  miles 
north  of  Cincinnati  to  a  place  six  miles  beyond  Fort  Jefferson, 
where  a  second  winter  camp  was  established  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Greenville.  From  this  place  a  detachment  was 
sent  forward  to  occupy  the  site  of  St.  Clair's  defeat  and  there 
build  a  post,  to  which  the  significant  name  of  Fort  Recovery 
was  given. 

The  winter  was  spent  in  further  drill,  and  in  perfecting  the 
preparations  for  a  decisive  conflict  in  the  spring.  The  Indians 
harassed  the  posts,  attacking  convoys,  and  killing  the  com- 
mander of  Fort  Jefferson  within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  fort. 

"» For  standard  secondary  accounts  of  Wayne's  campaign  see  Winsor,  op.  cit.,  chap, 
xx ;  Roosevelt,  op.  cit.,  IV,  chap.  ii.  Original  documents  pertaining  to  the  campaign, 
including  Wayne's  report  of  the  attack  on  Fort  Recovery  and  the  battle  of  Fallen  Timbers, 
are  printed  in  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Afair$,  I,  487-95.  Wayne's  Orderly  Book, 
covering  the  period  from  1792  to  1797,  is  printed  in  the  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  xxxiv, 
341-734- 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  117 

Ere  spring  the  regular  troops  had  developed  into  a  finely  drilled 
army,  with  confidence  in  their  leader  and  in  themselves.  The 
natural  contempt  of  the  frontiersman  for  a  regular  force,  height- 
ened as  it  was  by  the  disasters  of  the  army  in  the  last  few  years, 
gave  way  to  genuine  admiration  for  Wayne's  troops.  The 
cavalry  had  been  trained  to  maneuver  over  any  ground,  and  the 
infantry  to  load  while  on  the  run.  By  constant  practice  the 
soldiers  had  become  as  good  marksmen  as  were  the  frontier 
hunters  themselves,  and  Wayne,  who  had  become  famous  in  the 
Revolution  for  his  reliance  on  the  bayonet,  had  imbued  his  men 
with  his  own  zeal  for  coming  to  close  quarters  with  the  enemy. 

Prominent  among  the  causes  'which  had  contributed  to  St. 
Clair's  overthrow  was  the  absence  of  an  efficient  corps  of  scouts 
to  bring  him  information  of  the  enemy's  movements  and  protect 
his  own  army  against  surprise.  The  preparation  of  Wayne  in 
this  respect,  and  the  skilful  use  which  he  made  of  his  force  of 
scouts,  was  in  marked  contrast  to  the  course  of  his  unfortunate 
predecessor.  One  of  the  leaders  of  this  force  was  William  Wells, 
the  son-in-law  of  Little  Turtle,  who  three  years  before  had 
assisted  his  dusky  relative  to  overthrow  St.  Clair.  Since  then  he 
had  rejoined  the  whites,  to  whom  by  reason  of  his  long  life  on  the 
frontier,  and  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  very  Indians 
against  whom  Wayne  was  marching,  his  services  were  invaluable. 
His  scouts  covered  Wayne's  front  so  effectively  that  the  Indians 
were  unable  to  obtain  any  correct  information  concerning  his 
numbers  or  movements. 

On  June  30  an  assault  was  made  on  Fort  Recovery  by  two 
thousand  Indians,  but  they  were  beaten  off  with  considerable 
loss,  which  caused  some  of  them  to  leave  for  their  homes  in 
despair.280  On  the  other  hand,  Wayne's  forces  were  augmented 
by  the  arrival  of  General  Scott  at  the  head  of  sixteen  hundred 
Kentucky  mounted  volunteers.  Having  further  deceived  the 
enemy  as  to  his  intentions  by  making  demonstrations  to  right 
and  left,  Wayne  marched  by  a  devious  route  to  the  Indian 
villages  at  the  junction  of  the  Glaize  and  the  Maumee  rivers,  in 

»so  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  444-45. 


u8  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

the  heart  of  the  hostile  country.281  Here  he  had  hoped  to  strike 
a  telling  blow,  but  the  timely  information  of  a  deserter  enabled 
the  Indians  to  flee  before  his  arrival.  But  their  villages,  stretch- 
ing for  several  miles  up  and  down  the  river,  with  cornfields  more 
extensive  than  Wayne  had  ever  seen  before,  "from  Canada  to 
Florida,"  fell  into  his  hands  without  striking  a  blow.  He  spent 
some  time  in  building  here  a  strong  stockade  fort,  which  he 
grimly  named  Defiance,  and  in  sending  a  last  futile  overture  to 
the  Indians  for  peace.  It  was  now  the  middle  of  August,  and  on 
learning  of  the  failure  of  his  embassy,  Wayne  set  forth  on  the 
final  stage  of  his  campaign. 

The  defiance  to  which  his  fortress  gave  expression  was  not 
directed  against  the  Indians  alone,  for  the  British  officials  in  the 
Northwest  were  now  co-operating  almost  openly  with  the  natives. 
In  February,  1794,  in  the  course  of  a  speech  to  an  Indian  delega- 
tion, Lord  Dorchester  asserted  that  he  would  not  be  surprised  if 
war  between  his  country  and  the  United  States  should  begin 
during  the  year.  This  speech  caused  an  immediate  furore  at 
Montreal,  where  it  was  construed  to  indicate  that  Dorchester  had 
private  intelligence  which  rendered  him  confident  that  such  a 
war  would  shortly  begin.282  During  the  ensuing  weeks  it  was 
actively  circulated  among  the  western  tribes,283  who  were  incited 
to  collect  their  forces  and  assured  that  in  the  event  of  war  they 
would  have  an  opportunity  to  make  a  new  boundary  line.  At 
the  same  time  Simcoe,  acting  under  Dorchester's  orders,  pro- 
ceeded from  Detroit  to  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee,  a  few  miles 
above  the  modern  city  of  Toledo,  with  three  companies  of  British 
regulars,  and  constructed  a  fort  to  serve  as  an  outpost  for  the 
defense  of  Detroit  against  Wayne's  advance.  There  is  nothing 
improbable  in  the  assertion  that  the  Indians  were  given  to  under- 
stand that  its  gates  would  be  open  to  shelter  them,  in  case  of 

>ii  Wayne  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  August  14,  1794;  American  State  Papers,  Indian 
Affairs,  I,  490. 

•"  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XX,  331.  For  an  account  of  Dorchester's  speech  and 
its  results  see  Roosevelt,  op.  cit.,  IV,  57-60,  62. 

'»•>  See,  for  example,  Lieutenant-colonel  Butler's  speech  to  the  chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations 
at  Buffalo  Creek,  in  April,  1794,  printed  in  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XX,  342-43. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  119 

need,  from  Wayne's  army,  and  it  is  clear  that  both  the  Indians 
and  the  Americans  believed  that  the  British  were  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  co-operating  with  the  former.  Wayne  had  learned 
of  Simcoe's  advance  early  in  June,  and  since  then  he  had  received 
information  from  his  scouts  that  the  British  had  participated  in 
the  attack  on  Fort  Recovery.  It  was  therefore  with  the  expec- 
tation of  having  a  double  foe  to  deal  with  that  he  planted  and 
named  Fort  Defiance,  preparatory  to  beginning  the  descent  of 
the  Maumee  to  the  Rapids,  where  the  British  fort  was  located 
and  near  which  the  Indians  had  taken  their  stand. 

The  advance  from  Fort  Defiance  was  begun  on  August  15, 
and  three  days  later  Wayne's  army  was  within  striking  distance 
of  the  enemy.  Here  a  halt  was  made  and  a  temporary  fortifica- 
tion thrown  up.  The  savages  had  elected  to  defend  a  place 
known  as  Fallen  Timbers,  where  the  ground  was  thickly  strewn 
with  tree  trunks  as  the  result  of  a  former  tornado.  This 
furnished  an  ideal  covert  for  their  mode  of  warfare,  and  at  the 
same  time,  as  they  believed,  rendered  it  impossible  for  Wayne's 
dreaded  cavalry  to  act.  Behind  this  shelter  about  two  thousand 
warriors  lay  on  the  morning  of  August  20  awaiting  Wayne's 
approach.  The  Indians  were  far  from  confident  of  repeating 
their  success  of  three  years  before  against  St.  Clair.  Little 
Turtle,  the  leader  on  that  occasion,  had  urged  the  acceptance  of 
the  peace  overtures  of  "the  chief  who  never  sleeps,"  but  in  this 
he  was  overruled.  Already  some  of  the  northern  tribes  had 
slunk  away,  disheartened  by  their  discomfiture  at  Fort  Recovery. 
The  southern  Indians  had  sent  encouraging  messages,  but  had 
failed  to  back  them  up  with  their  warriors,  and  the  sole  hope  of 
assistance  rested  with  the  British,  who  in  similar  crises  in  times 
gone  by  had  failed  them.284 

In  the  ranks  of  the  two  armies,  about  to  join  combat,  were  a 
number  of  men  who  are  famous  in  the  history  of  the  Northwest. 
General  Wayne  had  acquired  fame  in  the  Revolution  as  a  daring 
leader  of  men,  but  this  campaign  furnishes  the  climax  of  his 
military  career  and  his  surest  claim  upon  the  grateful  remem- 

*>•  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  457. 


120  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

brance  of  posterity.  From  the  most  unpromising  of  raw  material 
he  had  fashioned  an  army  fit  to  cope  with  the  red  man  in  his  lair, 
and  had  imbued  it  with  his  own  dauntless  confidence  and  enthu- 
siasm. He  had  transformed  such  men  as  St.  Clair  had  with 
difficulty  held  together  in  the  absence  of  the  enemy,  and  who  had 
proved  so  helpless  in  his  presence,  into  the  peers  of  the  frontiers- 
men themselves  in  marksmanship  and  dexterity  in  the  saddle; 
and  had  made  them  submissive  to  an  iron  discipline  which  ren- 
dered them  immeasurably  superior  to  the  latter  for  the  conduct 
of  a  campaign  or  battle. 

On  the  other  side  were  a  score  or  more  of  chieftains  of  vary- 
ing degrees  of  importance  and  influence.  If  Little  Turtle  had 
favored  a  fight  his  rank  and  reputation  would  probably  have 
given  him  the  position  of  chief  importance.  Blue  Jacket's  advice 
had  prevailed  in  the  council  before  the  battle,  however,  and  as 
the  result  he  occupied  the  position  of  commander.  Two  young 
men,  one  in  either  army,  possess  a  peculiar  interest  for  us  by 
reason  of  their  later  careers.  The  one,  a  lieutenant  in  Wayne's 
army  and  aide-de-camp  to  the  General,  William  Henry  Harrison; 
the  other,  the  warrior  Tecumseh.  Each  distinguished  himself 
according  to  the  fashion  of  his  race  for  bravery  in  the  battle ;  each 
rose  shortly  to  the  position  of  leader  of  his  race  in  the  Northwest, 
and  this  leadership  involved  them  in  a  deadly  rivalry.  In  the 
long  contest  between  them  the  red  man  went  down  to  defeat;  his 
projects  for  the  resuscitation  of  his  people  were  forever  blasted  at 
Tippecanoe,  and  two  years  later  the  battle  of  the  Thames  marked 
another  victory  for  Harrison  and  Tecumseh's  final  defeat.  For 
the  one  the  reward  was  the  Presidency,  for  the  other  a  ruined 
people  and  a  nameless  grave.  Yet  who  shall  say  that,  measured 
by  the  standards  of  his  race,  Tecumseh  was  not  the  equal  in 
greatness  and  ability  of  his  victorious  rival  ? 

At  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  August  20  Wayne's  legion 
advanced  in  columns  in  open  order,  its  front,  flanks,  and  rear 
protected  by  detachments  of  the  Kentucky  mounted  volunteers 
and  of  Indians.  After  traveling  a  distance  of  five  miles  the 
mounted  battalion  in  advance  encountered  the  Indians,  disposed 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  121 

in  three  lines  stretching  a  distance  of  two  miles  at  right  angles 
to  the  river.  The  Kentuckians  were  driven  back  and  the  firing 
became  general,  but  they  had  accomplished  their  purpose  of 
giving  the  army  timely  notice  of  the  position  of  the  savages. 
Wayne's  dispositions  were  quickly  made.  The  infantry  was 
drawn  up  in  two  lines.  The  whole  force  of  mounted  volunteers 
was  sent  by  a  circuitous  path  to  turn  the  right  flank  of  the 
savages,  and  the  legionary  cavalry  under  Captain  Campbell  was 
ordered  to  fall  upon  their  left.  At  the  same  time  the  infantry 
moved  forward  with  trailed  arms  to  a  bayonet  charge,  with  orders 
to  deliver  their  fire  at  close  range  after  the  Indians  had  been 
roused  from  their  coverts,  and  then  continue  the  charge,  so  as 
to  give  them  no  opportunity  to  reload. 

The  value  of  the  months  of  careful  drilling  was  now  quickly 
manifested.  Campbell's  dragoons  plunged  forward  over  the 
difficult  ground  and  fell  upon  the  astonished  savages,  who 
delivered  a  single  volley  and  fled.  Campbell  was  slain  and  a 
dozen  of  his  men  killed  or  wounded,  but  the  cavalry  swept  on, 
Lieutenant  Covington,  who  succeeded  to  the  command,  cutting 
down  two  of  the  red  men  with  his  own  hand.  The  infantry 
moved  forward  with  equal  impetuosity,  driving  the  dismayed 
savages  before  them  through  the  thick  woods  a  distance  of  two 
miles  in  less  than  an  hour.  So  quickly  was  the  combat  over  that 
the  second  line  of  infantry  and  the  Kentucky  volunteers,  despite 
their  "anxiety"  for  action,  were  unable  to  reach  their  positions  in 
time  to  share  in  the  fight.  The  surviving  savages  and  their 
Canadian  allies  scattered  in  flight,  the  Americans  pursuing  them 
as  far  as  the  walls  of  the  British  fort.  Wayne  reported  a  loss  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-three  in  killed  and  wounded  and  esti- 
mated the  loss  of  the  enemy  at  more  than  double  his  own.  The 
woods  were  strewn  for  some  distance  with  the  dead  bodies  of  the 
Indians  and  their  white  auxiliaries,  the  latter  armed  with  British 
muskets  and  bayonets. 

The  battle  over,  three  days  were  spent  in  ravaging  the  sur- 
rounding fields  and  villages.  The  houses  and  stores  of  the  British 
traders  and  agents  shared  the  fate  of  the  Indian  villages,  while 


122  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

the  garrison  looked  on  in  impotent  rage.  Fortunately  a  con- 
flict between  the  two  armies,  the  danger  of  which  was  very  real, 
was  averted,  the  commanders  contenting  themselves  with  an 
exchange  of  verbal  hostilities.  A  week  after  the  battle  the 
victorious  army  moved  leisurely  back  to  Fort  Defiance,  laying 
waste  the  villages  and  cornfields  of  the  savages  for  a  distance  of 
fifty  miles  on  either  side  of  the  Maumee.  After  two  weeks  spent 
in  strengthening  the  fort,  while  waiting  for  supplies  from  Fort 
Recovery,  the  army  moved  up  the  river  to  the  Miami  villages  at 
the  mouth  of  the  St.  Mary's  where  Harmar's  force  had  been 
rebuffed  four  years  before.  Here  some  weeks  were  spent  in 
destroying  the  surrounding  villages  and  fields  and  in  building  a 
fort  which  was  named  for  the  commander,  Fort  Wayne.  At  the 
end  of  October  the  army  retired  to  Greenville  where  it  went  into 
winter  quarters.  Since  the  opening  of  the  campaign  it  had  per- 
formed "one  of  the  most  weighty  and  important  feats  in  the 
winning  of  the  West,"285 

The  Indians  were  discouraged  by  their  defeat  and  their 
abandonment  by  the  British.  The  agents  of  the  latter  strove  to 
reanimate  them  and  prolong  hostilities,286  and  for  some  time  the 
issue  was  doubtful.  Some  of  the  savages  were  in  favor  of  con- 
tinuing the  war,  but  the  majority  finally  inclined  to  peace,  and  in 
February,  1795,  Wayne  entered  into  a  preliminary  agreement 
with  a  number  of  the  tribes  for  the  negotiation  of  a  permanent 
peace  on  the  basis  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Fort  Harmar  of 
January,  1789.  The  tawny  diplomats  straggled  slowly  in  to  the 
place  appointed  for  the  council.  The  council  fire  was  kindled  on 
June  16, 28y  but  owing  to  the  tardiness  of  the  various  delegations 
a  month  elapsed  before  the  formal  negotiations  were  begun. 
Three  weeks  later,  on  August  10,  the  treaty  was  concluded.  In 
all  eleven  hundred  and  thirty  warriors  had  assembled.  To  the 
torrent  of  savage  oratory  which  their  spokesmen  poured  forth 

«•«  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  IV,  gi. 

.86  Winsor,  op.  cit.,  460-61;  American  Stale  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  547-58,  568. 

••»  For  Wayne's  report  of  the  proceedings  attending  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty  see 
American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  562-83. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  123 

during  the  weeks  of  discussion  Wayne  replied  in  kind,  showing 
himself  as  much  at  home  in  the  council  chamber  as  when  on  the 
field  of  battle. 

On  July  3  Wayne  called  the  chiefs  together  to  explain  to  them 
the  significance  of  the  impending  celebration  of  Independence 
Day,  so  that  they  might  not  be  alarmed  when  the  roar  of  the  big 
guns  should  " ascend  into  the  heavens."  Twelve  days  later  the 
council  was  formally  opened.  Wayne  displayed  his  credentials 
to  the  assembled  chiefs,  explained  the  occasion  of  the  meeting, 
and  closed  by  suggesting  an  adjournment  of  two  or  three  days  "  to 
have  a  little  drink"  and  consider  the  situation.  The  chief  issue 
of  the  conference  was  immediately  raised  by.  Little  Turtle,  who 
professed  ignorance  of  the  treaty  of  Fort  Harmar  and  denied  that 
the  Miamis  had  had  any  part  in  it.  As  the  negotiations  pro- 
ceeded this  chief  strenuously  opposed  the  cessions  demanded  by 
Wayne.  In  a  speech  delivered  July  22  he  expressed  his  regret 
over  the  division  of  opinion  manifested  by  the  assembled  Indians, 
and  claimed  for  his  tribe  all  of  the  territory  bounded  on  the  east 
by  a  line  from  Detroit  to  and  down  the  Scioto  River  to  its  mouth, 
on  the  south  by  the  Ohio  from  this  point  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Wabash,  and  on  the  west  by  a  line  from  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash 
to  Chicago.  He  questioned  the  good  faith  of  the  Americans, 
saying  they  claimed  the  land  in  dispute  now  by  cession  by  the 
British  in  1783,  now  by  that  of  the  tribes  who  took  part  in  the 
treaty  of  Fort  Harmar.  When,  five  days  later,  Wayne  read  the 
list  of  reservations  which  he  proposed  to  embody  in  the  treaty, 
including  a  tract  six  miles  square  "at  the  Mouth  of  Chikago 
River  ....  where  a  Fort  formerly  stood,"  Little  Turtle 
answered  that  his  people  had  never  heard  of  it.  On  this  par- 
ticular point  the  facts  of  history  favored  the  red  man,  for  there 
is  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  French  had  ever  had  a  fort 
here.  But  force  and  the  logic  of  events  favored  the  white  leader, 
and  in  the  final  draft  of  the  treaty  was  included  the  cession  of 
"One  piece  of  Land  Six  Miles  square  at  the  Mouth  of  Chickago 
River  emptying  into  the  Southwest  end  of  Lake  Michigan  where 
a  fort  formerly  stood." 


124 

Among  those  most  disposed  to  accept  the  terms  offered  by 
Wayne  were  the  Wyandots,  to  whom  was  intrusted  one  of  the 
two  copies  of  the  treaty  that  were  engrossed  on  parchment. 
Their  leader,  Tarke,  responded  to  Little  Turtle's  reflections  upon 
the  cession  made  at  Fort  Harmar  and  upon  those  who  disagreed 
with  him,  with  a  burst  of  eloquence  characteristic  of  Indian 
oratory  and  of  the  figurative  language  which  it  habitually 
employed.  Addressing  his  "Elder  Brother,"  General  Wayne,  he 
said: 

"Now  listen  to  us:  The  Great  Spirit  above  has  appointed 
this  day  for  us  to  meet  together.  I  shall  now  deliver  my  senti- 
ments to  you,  the  .Fifteen  Fires.  I  view  you  lying  in  a  gore  of 
blood;  it  is  me,  an  Indian,  who  has  caused  it.  Our  tomahawk 
yet  remains  in  your  head;  the  English  gave  it  to  me  to  place 
there. 

"Elder  Brother:  I  now  take  the  tomahawk  out  of  your  head; 
but  with  so  much  care,  that  you  shall  not  feel  pain  or  injury.  I 
will  now  tear  a  big  tree  up  by  the  roots,  and  throw  the  hatchet 
into  the  cavity  which  they  occupied,  where  the  waters  will  wash 
it  away  where  it  can  never  be  found.  Now  I  have  buried  the 
hatchet  and  I  expect  that  none  of  my  color  will  ever  again  find 
it  out 

"Brothers:  Listen!  I  now  wipe  your  body  clean  from  all 
blood  with  this  white  soft  linen  [white  wampum],  and  I  do  it 
with  as  much  tenderness  as  I  am  capable  of.  You  have 
appointed  this  house  for  the  chiefs  of  the  different  tribes  to  sit  in 
with  you,  and  none  but  good  words  ought  to  be  spoken  in  it.  I 
swept  it  clean;  nothing  impure  remains  in  it 

"Brother:  I  clear  away  yon  hovering  clouds,  that  we  may 
enjoy  a  clear,  bright  day,  and  easily  see  the  sun,  which  the 
Great  Spirit  has  bestowed  on  us,  rise  and  set  continually " 

The  negotiations  were  at  length  satisfactorily  concluded,  and 
all  professed  themselves  satisfied  with  Wayne's  demands.  The 
treaty  recognized  the  American  title  to  the  lands  north  of  the 
Ohio  bounded  by  a  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky 
River  to  Fort  Recovery,  thence  in  a  general  easterly  direction  to 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  125 

the  Muskingum,  and  along  this  river  and  the  Cuyahoga  to  Lake 
Erie;  in  addition  various  reservations,  aside  from  the  one  at 
Chicago,  were  made,  most  of  them  for  the  establishment  of  forts, 
and  the  free  passage  of  the  rivers  and  portages  connecting  the 
proposed  chain  of  forts  was  guaranteed.  In  Illinois  the  grant 
included  reservations  at  Chicago,  at  Lake  Peoria,  and  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Illinois,  and  the  free  use  of  the  Chicago  Harbor, 
River,  and  Portage,  and  the  Illinois  River.  On  the  other  hand 
the  Indian  title  to  the  soil  was  recognized,  some  twenty  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  presents  were  distributed,  and  the  payment  to 
the  Indians  of  annuities  aggregating  nine  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  was  promised. 

The  treaty  brought  to  an  end  forty  years  of  warfare  in  the 
valley  of  the  Ohio,  during  which  it  is  estimated  five  thousand 
whites  were  killed  or  captured.288  For  three  years  past  the  war 
had  cost  the  government  of  the  United  States  over  a  million 
dollars  a  year.  The  peace  which  Wayne  brought  to  the  frontier 
endured  for  fifteen  years,  being  broken  only  by  Tecumseh's, 
war,  which  shortly  merged  into  the  greater  struggle  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  in  1812.  By  that  time  the 
in-rush  of  settlers  and  the  passing  away  of  the  older  generation  had 
wrought  a  material  change  in  the  condition  of  the  Northwest;  so 
that  the  Treaty  of  Greenville  may  fairly  be  said  to  have  endured 
until  the  conditions  which  called  it  forth  had  passed  away. 

While  Wayne  was  pushing  his  campaign  against  the  north- 
western Indians,  which  the  British  officials  feared  would  end  in 
their  overthrow  at  Detroit,  Washington  dispatched  John  Jay  on 
a  diplomatic  mission  to  England  which  was  to  result  in  the 
peaceable  surrender  of  the  northwestern  posts.  The  differences 
between  the  two  countries  which  had  arisen  from  the  unfulfilled 
treaty  of  1783  had  now  become  so  serious  that  there  was  grave 
danger  of  a  warlike  termination.  In  the  hope  of  preventing  this 
calamity,  therefore,  Washington  appointed  Jay,  in  the  spring  of 
1794,  as  a  special  envoy  to  England  to  treat  of  the  matters  in 
dispute. 

"••  Winsor,  op.  cit.,  494. 


126  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

During  the  summer  the  negotiations  with  the  British  govern- 
ment went  slowly  forward  and  in  November  a  treaty  was  con- 
cluded. By  the  Americans  its  terms  were  received  with  bitter 
disgust,  and  there  is  even  yet  a  difference  of  opinion  among 
students  over  the  question  of  the  wisdom  of  Jay's  conduct  of  the 
negotiations.  The  western  Americans  were  especially  loud  in 
their  denunciation  of  Jay  and  the  treaty.289  Yet  they  obtained 
by  it  the  surrender  of  the  British  posts  in  the  Northwest,  a 
measure  which  constituted  the  logical  completion  of  Wayne's 
work  and  was  absolutely  essential  to  the  permanence  of  the  peace 
so  recently  established  on  the  frontier.  It  was  stipulated  that 
the  posts  should  be  evacuated  on  June  i,  1796,  and  Washington 
appropriately  appointed  Wayne  to  superintend  the  taking  pos- 
session of  them  by  the  United  States.  As  the  appointed  time 
drew  near  the  British  were  more  ready  to  make  the  surrender 
than  were  the  Americans  to  receive  it.  At  our  own  request, 
therefore,  possession  was  retained  until  the  arrival  of  the  reliev- 
ing forces  at  the  various  posts.  During  the  summer  and  fall 
the  transfers  were  made,  the  last  post  which  was  taken  over 
by  the  Americans  being  Mackinac  in  October.  Our  boundaries 
in  the  Northwest,  nominally  established  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris 
of  1783,  were  at  last  achieved  in  reality.  The  Indians  had  been 
conquered  and  Great  Britain  had  retired;  the  Northwest  was 
won  for  the  United  States. 

•••  Roosevelt,  op.  cit.,  IV,  194-97. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN 

The  strategic  value  of  Chicago  as  a  center  of  control  for  the 
region  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi  had  been 
recognized  long  before  our  government  took  the  step  of  estab- 
lishing a  fort  there.  On  more  than  one  occasion  during  the 
French  regime  recommendations  were  made  to  the  French 
government  in  favor  of  a  fort  at  Chicago.  As  early  as  1697  two 
Frenchmen,  Louvigny  and  Mantet,  conceived  the  project  of 
making  a  combined  trading  and  exploring  expedition  from 
Canada  toward  Mexico  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  to 
this  end  petitioned  the  French  minister  of  war  for  a  post  at 
Chicago  to  serve  as  an  entrepot  for  their  enterprise.290  The 
importance  of  Chicago  in  the  struggle  between  the  British  and 
the  Americans  during  the  Revolution  has  already  been  shown. 
After  Wayne's  triumph  at  Fallen  Timbers  in  August,  1794,  the 
British  officer,  Simcoe,  proposed  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  a  plan  for 
shutting  American  traders  out  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  by 
establishing  British  depots  along  the  portages  leading  to  it, 
particularly  at  the  Chicago  Portage.291  The  British  control  of 
the  Northwest  which  Simcoe  was  striving  to  perpetuate  was, 
however,  about  to  cease,  and  nothing  came  of  his  project. 
Wayne's  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  Chicago  was  shown 
by  his  demand  in  the  Treaty  of  Greenville  that  the  Indians  cede 
to  the  United  States  a  tract  of  land  six  miles  square  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Chicago  River,  to  serve  as  the  site  for  a  future  fort. 

Two  facts,  both  of  them  of  great  importance  in  American 
history,  account  for  the  establishment  of  Fort  Dearborn,  eight 
years  after  Wayne  thus  acquired  from  the  Indians  the  title  to  its 
site.  One  was  Wayne's  victory  over  the  northwestern  tribes, 
the  results  of  which  were  registered  in  this  same  Treaty  of 

«»«  Margry,  IV,  9  ff.  a"  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  461. 

127 


128  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Greenville;  the  other,  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  by  the  United 
States  in  1803.  Probably  the  first  of  these  would  alone  have 
been  sufficient  to  determine  the  establishment  ere  long  of  a  fort 
at  Chicago,  but  the  influence  of  the  two  combined  rendered  delay 
impossible. 

The  victory  of  Wayne,  by  removing  the  menace  of  Indian 
hostilities,  made  possible  the  rapid  settlement  of  the  region 
northwest  of  the  Ohio.  During  the  next  few  years  a  veritable 
flood  of  immigration  poured  into  this  Northwest  Territory,  the 
portion  nearest  at  hand  being,  as  was  natural,  first  occupied. 
Within  five  years  of  the  Treaty  of  Greenville  this  portion  of  the 
territory  was  ready  for  statehood.  In  1800,  therefore,  Congress 
provided  for  the  separation  of  the  Northwest  Territory  into  two 
parts,  and  two  years  later  the  eastern  section  was  admitted  into 
the  Union  as  the  state  of  Ohio.  The  remaining  portion  became 
the  territory  of  Indiana  with  William  Henry  Harrison,  then  a 
young  man  of  twenty-seven,  as  governor.  During  the  following 
years  the  line  of  white  settlement  advanced  steadily,  though  more 
slowly,  into  the  North  and  West.  The  two  military  posts 
farthest  advanced  in  this  direction  were  Detroit  and  Mackinac. 
Neither  of  these  was  advantageously  situated  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  country  stretching  from  the  upper  lakes  to  the 
Mississippi. 

With  every  passing  year  the  necessity  of  exercising  a  firmer 
control  over  this  region  became  greater.  The  settlers  must  be 
protected  from  Indian  depredations,  and  the  lawlessness  of  the 
traders  and  other  frontiersmen  must  be  curbed.  One  fact  of 
great  importance  pertained  to  the  British  control  of  the  Indian 
trade  of  the  Northwest.  The  surrender  of  the  posts  in  1796  had 
not  broken  the  grip  of  the  traders  on  this  region.  Until  the  close 
of  the  War  of  1812 — and  in  the  remoter  portion  of  the  Northwest, 
for  some  years  after  this — the  influence  of  the  Canadian  traders 
over  the  Indians  was  paramount.  It  was  impossible,  therefore, 
for  the  United  States  to  exercise  an  effective  control  over  them, 
and  a  garrison  to  the  west  of  Lake  Michigan  was  needed  to  assist 
in  wresting  this  commercial  supremacy  from  the  British  traders. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  129 

The  acquisition  of  Louisiana  advanced  our  western  boundary 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  crest  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  If 
before  it  had  been  difficult  to  control  our  westernmost  frontier 
from  Detroit  and  Mackinac,  with  this  advance  it  became  utterly 
impossible.  New  outposts  must  be  established  in  order  to  keep 
pace  with  both  the  advancing  boundary  and  the  swelling  wave  of 
settlement.  Chicago,  still  far  in  advance  of  the  latter,  was  the 
logical  place  for  the  new  establishment.  A  garrison  here  in  the 
heart  of  the  Indian  country  would  serve  to  protect  the  settle- 
ments of  Indiana  and  lower  Illinois,  would  perfect  the  com- 
munication between  the  latter  and  the  posts  of  Detroit  and 
Mackinac,  and  constitute  a  convenient  center  of  control  for  the 
region  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi.292 

Rumors  of  a  purpose  to  establish  a  post  at  Chicago  preceded 
by  some  years  its  actual  consummation.  In  the  winter  of  1 797-98 
William  Burnett,  a  French  trader  on  the  St.  Joseph  River,  in- 
formed the  Montreal  house  from  which  he  obtained  his  supplies 
for  the  Indian  trade  of  the  expectation  that  a  garrison  would  be 
established  at  Chicago  the  following  summer.293  What  the  basis 
for  this  expectation  was  does  not  appear,  but  evidently  Burnett 
considered  it  probable,  for  in  August,  1798,  he  wrote  that  he  now 
had  reason  to  expect  the  garrison  would  arrive  in  the  fall.  The 
shrewd  trader's  interest  in  the  matter  was  due  to  the  fact  that, 
having  already  a  house  at  Chicago,  and  "a  promise  of  assistance 
from  headquarters,"  he  would  have  occasion  for  "a  good  deal 
of  liquors,"  and  some  other  articles,  for  that  post.  Thus  rum 
attended  the  birth,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  was  prominent  at  the 
downfall,  of  old  Fort  Dearborn. 

The  "promise  of  assistance  from  headquarters"  furnishes  a 
possible  clue  to  the  source  of  Burnett's  information.  Though  five 
years  were  yet  to  elapse  before  the  project  materialized,  the  letter 
is  of  some  importance  as  showing  that  among  those  most  inter- 
ested it  had  long  been  regarded  as  a  probability  of  the  near 

'»  See  on  this  point  the  letter  from  Mackinac,  September  6,  1803,  printed  in  Relf's 
Philadelphia  Gazette  and  Commercial  Advertiser,  November  19,  1803. 

'«  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  66. 


130  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

future.  Early  in  1803  the  matter  was  at  last  determined.  A 
letter  from  the  Secretary  of  War,294  dated  March  9,  to  Colonel 
Hamtramck  of  the  First  Infantry,  who  was  then  stationed  at 
Detroit,  directed  that  an  officer  and  six  men  be  sent  to  make  a 
preliminary  investigation  of  the  situation  at  Chicago  and  the 
route  thither  from  Detroit.  The  party  was  to  go  by  land  from 
Detroit  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  River,  marking  a  trail 
and  noting  suitable  camping-places  for  the  company  which  was  to 
follow.  Inquiry  was  to  be  made  concerning  the  supplies  of  pro- 
visions which  Burnett  and  the  other  traders  could  furnish,  and  a 
suitable  "scite"  was  to  be  selected  at  St.  Joseph  for  a  temporary 
encampment  of  the  company  until  preparations  could  be  made  at 
"Chikago"  for  its  reception.  In  case  the  overland  route  should 
be  found  to  be  practicable  for  a  company  with  packhorses  for 
carrying  provisions  and  light  baggage,  Colonel  Hamtramck 
should  order  it  to  go,  under  command  of  a  "discreet,  judicious 
captain,"  and  should  send  around  the  lakes  the  necessary  tools 
and  other  equipment  for  the  erection  and  maintenance  of  a  strong 
stockade  post  at  Chicago,  together  with  two  light  fieldpieces  and 
the  necessary  supply  of  ammunition. 

Six  weeks  later  the  appointment  of  Captain  John  Whistler  as 
commander  of  the  new  post  had  been  made  and,  soon  after,  he 
departed  with  six  men  to  examine  the  route  and  report  to  Major 
Pike.295  At  the  same  time  the  firm  of  Robert  and  James  Abbott 
of  Detroit  was  considering  the  advantages  of  the  post  as  a  possible 
trading  center.  They  report  that  Whistler  desired  them  to 
establish  a  store  there,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  sentiment  the 
culmination  of  which  is  recorded  in  the  quaint  announcement  of 
Whistler  to  Kingsbury  in  November,  1804,  of  the  marriage  of  his 
eldest  daughter  to  a  "gentleman  of  my  old  acquaintance  (James 

•»«  Copy,  by  Daniel  0.  Drennan,  of  letter  of  Inspector-general  Gushing  to  Hamtramck, 
March  14,  1803,  in  Chicago  Historical  Society  library.  Mr.  Drennan,  as  agent  of  the 
society,  made  exact  copies  of  a  large  number  of  documents  in  the  files  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment at  Washington  pertaining  to  Hull's  campaign  and  to  Fort  Dearborn  and  early  Chicago. 
These  will  be  cited  henceforth  as  the  Drennan  Papers. 

•"  Letter  of  Robert  and  James  Abbott  of  Detroit  to  Abbott  and  Maxwell  of  Mackinac, 
April  30,  1803,  copied  in  Chicago  from  1803  to  1812,  by  James  Grant  Wilson,  MS  in  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  131 

Abbot)"296  was  already  blossoming.  If,  as  seems  likely,  Ham- 
tramck  was  responsible  for  Whistler's  appointment  to  the  new 
command  it  must  have  been  almost  his  last  official  act,  for  he 
died  on  April  n,  less  than  a  month  after  the  issuance  by  the 
Inspector-general  at  Cumberland,  Maryland,  of  the  order  for  the 
establishment  of  the  fort.297 

At  half-past  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  14,  1803,  the 
troops  set  out  from  Detroit  under  command  of  Lieutenant  James 
Strode  Swearingen  of  the  artillery,  then  a  youth  of  twenty-one.298 
Swearingen  had  volunteered  to  lead  the  troops  to  Chicago  for 
Captain  Whistler,  on  account  of  the  infirm  state  of  the  latter's 
health.  Whistler  and  his  family,  together  with  his  son  Lieutenant 
William  Whistler  and  his  young  wife,  embarked  on  the  schooner 
"Tracy,"  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Dorr,  which  had  been 
ordered  to  proceed  around  the  lakes  with  provisions  and  military 
stores  for  the  new  post.  We  have  the  journal  which  Swearingen 
kept  on  the  trip,  containing  observations  on  the  country,  timber, 
camping-places,  and  water  courses.299  The  daily  march  varied 
greatly  in  length.  Sometimes  the  start  was  made  before  five  in 
the  morning  and  the  march  ended  by  two  in  the  afternoon;  at 
other  times  bad  weather  or  other  obstacles  necessitated  a  late 
start  and  a  march  of  only  a  few  miles.  The  route  followed  was 
that  of  the  old  Chicago  Trail,  later  known  as  the  "Chicago 
Road."  It  led  the  troops  across  the  Rouge  and  Huron  rivers, 
past  the  site  of  the  modern  city  of  Ypsilanti  to  the  upper  waters 
of  Grand  River,  which  flows  into  Lake  Michigan.  Thence  the 
route  lay  across  country  to  the  St.  Joseph  and  down  this  river  to 
its  mouth. 

a»6  Kingsbury  Papers,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  November  3,  1804. 

'« Hamtramck  was  a  veteran  soldier,  having  joined  Montgomery's  army  before 
Quebec  in  1776.  He  served  throughout  the  remainder  of  the  Revolution,  and  at  its  close 
continued  in  the  army,  rising  by  successive  promotions  to  the  rank  of  colonel.  He  was 
stationed  on  the  northwestern  frontier  for  many  years  prior  to  his  death.  At  the  battle  of 
Fallen  Timbers  he  commanded  the  left  wing  of  the  legion,  and  received  special  mention  in 
Wayne's  official  report  of  the  battle. 

>»«  For  an  account  of  Swearingen's  career  see  report  of  an  interview  with  him  in  1863, 
together  with  his  own  sketch  of  his  life,  preserved  in  the  MS  volume  of  Proceedings  of  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society,  1856-64,  348. 

'••  Printed  as  Appendix  I. 


132  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

On  July  25  we  find  Swearingen  at  "Kinzie's  improvement" 
on  the  St.  Joseph.  The  site  today  is  occupied  by  the  sleepy 
hamlet  of  Bertrand,  a  short  distance  south  of  Niles,  and  the 
highway  that  crosses  the  river  here  is  still  called  the  Chicago 
Road.  Here  the  party  was  detained  for  a  day  while  boats  were 
being  procured.  On  July  27  the  expedition  proceeded  down  the 
river,  the  baggage  and  seventeen  of  the  men  in  the  boats,  the 
remainder  of  the  men  marching  by  land.  From  July  28  to 
August  12  the  troops  were  encamped  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Joseph,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  "Tracy"  with  needed  pro- 
visions. Swearingen  estimated  the  distance  from  Detroit  to  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  at  two  hundred  and  seventy-two  miles. 
The  distance  by  rail  today  is  considerably  less,  but  the  expedition 
had  followed  the  tortuous  Indian  trail  and  then  the  course  of  the 
meandering  St.  Joseph.  The  remainder  of  the  march  around  the 
lake  to  Chicago  was  accomplished  in  three  days,  the  troops 
marching  along  the  lake  shore.  The  distance  according  to 
Swearingen's  estimate  was  ninety  miles,  and  in  this  he  was  not 
far  astray.  Probably  the  rapidity  of  the  march,  averaging  thirty 
miles  each  day,  may  be  explained  by  the  supposition  that  the  bag- 
gage continued  to  be  transported  by  boat,  for  the  journal  records 
that  the  start  from  St.  Joseph  was  delayed  two  days  by  the  rough- 
ness of  the  lake.  Unless  the  boats  continued  on  to  Chicago  this 
would,  apparently,  have  been  of  no  concern  to  the  expedition. 

While  the  land  detachment  was  thus  marching  across  the 
wilderness  of  southern  Michigan  and  northern  Indiana,  the 
"Tracy"  was  conveying  the  artillery,  provisions,  and  heavy 
baggage  around  the  lakes.  A  short  stop  was  made  at  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Joseph  where  the  troops  were  supplied  with  provisions. 
Here  the  Whistlers,  father  and  son,  disembarked,  and  continued 
their  journey  to  Chicago  in  a  row-boat.300  We  have  several 
accounts,  each  of  them  more  or  less  fragmentary,  of  what 
happened  upon  the  arrival  of  the  troops  at  Chicago.  Some  of 
them  are  of  contemporary  origin,  while  two  which  will  demand 

•">•  This  circumstance  was  related  over  seventy  years  later  by  the  wife  of  Lieutenant 
William  Whistler  (Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  25).  The  reason  for  such  a  proceeding  is 
not  apparent. 


CAPTAIN  JAMES  STRODE  SWEARINGEN 

As  a  youthful  lieutenant  of  twenty-one  he  led  the  troops  to  Chicago  in  1803 
(By  courtesy  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society) 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  133 

consideration  were  written  over  half  a  century  later  by  two  sur- 
viving participants  in  the  founding  of  the  first  Fort  Dearborn.301 
Of  these  Swearingen's  Journal  is  easily  the  most  authoritative,  but 
unfortunately  it  confines  itself  largely  to  describing  the  physical 
situation.  The  other  reports  help  out  the  story  by  the  addition 
of  various  details.  The  troops  reached  the  Chicago  River  at  two 
o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  August  17,  after  a  march  of  twenty- 
four  miles  from  their  last  camping-place  on  the  Little  Calumet. 
They  found  the  Chicago  a  sluggish  stream  thirty  yards  in  width 
at  the  bend  where  the  fort  was  to  be  constructed.  The  river 
was  eighteen  feet  or  more  in  depth,  but  a  sand  bar  at  its  mouth 
rendered  the  water  dead  and  unfit  for  use.  The  existence  of  the 
bar  made  it  possible  for  the  troops  to  cross  the  river  "dry  shod" 
and  encamp  on  the  other  side  a  short  distance  above  its  mouth. 
The  river  bank  was  eight  feet  high  at  the  point  where  the  fort 
was  to  be  built,  a  half-mile  above  the  mouth  of  the  stream.  The 
opposite  bank  was  somewhat  lower,  while  farther  up  the  stream 
both  banks  were  very  low. 

Swearingen's  Journal  says  nothing  of  the  Indians,  but  in  the 
sketch  of  his  life  written  sixty  years  later  he  records  that  the 
troops  were  greeted  on  their  arrival  by  many  Indians,  all  of 
whom  were  friendly.  The  wife  of  Lieutenant  Whistler,  who 
came  a  matron  of  sixteen  summers  to  the  site  of  the  future 
metropolis,  relates  that  while  the  schooner  was  here  some  two 
thousand  natives  gathered  to  see  the  "big  canoe  with  wings." 
Doubtless  their  souls  were  stirred  at  the  sight  by  emotions  even 
stronger  than  those  which  today  animate  their  more  sophisticated 
successors  at  sight  of  the  schooners  of  the  air.  Three  weeks  later 
a  Mackinac  letter-writer  reported  to  the  eastern  press  that  the 
natives  opposed  the  commander's  design  of  building  a  fort 
and  threatened  to  collect  their  warriors  and  prevent  it.302  The 

3"  Swearingen's  Journal,  Appendix  I;  his  statements  made  in  1863  preserved  in  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  1856-64,  348;  letter  from  Mackinac,  September  6, 
1803,  printed  in  Relf's  Philadelphia  Gazette,  November  19,  1803;  letter  of  Dr.  William 
Smith  from  Fort  Dearborn,  December  9,  1803,  to  James  May  of  Detroit,  MS  in  Detroit 
Public  Library;  story  of  the  wife  of  Lieutenant  Whistler  in  1875,  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiq- 
uities, 23-28. 

'"  Relfs  Philadelphia  Gazette,  November  19,  1803. 


134  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

writer's  source  of  information  was  evidently  someone  on  board 
the  "Tracy,"  which  touched  at  Mackinac  on  its  return  voyage  to 
Detroit.303  Since  a  hostile  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Indians 
is  not  mentioned  by  Mrs.  Whistler,  and  is  expressly  denied  by 
Swearingen,  we  may  safely  ascribe  the  statement  to  the  desire  of 
someone  to  tell  an  interesting  story. 

The  construction  of  the  stockade  and  a  shelter  for  the  troops 
was  the  commander's  first  care.  Mrs.  Whistler  relates  that 
there  were  no  horses  or  oxen  at  hand,  so  that  the  soldiers  were 
compelled  to  perform  the  work  of  dragging  the  timbers  to  their 
required  positions.  It  seems  likely,  however,  that  there  were 
some  animals,  though  their  number  was  probably  inadequate. 
The  original  order  for  the  establishment  of  a  fort  contemplated 
the  use  of  packhorses  by  the  troops  on  their  overland  march,  and 
Whistler,  writing  to  Kingsbury  in  July,  1804,  complains  of  the 
scarcity  of  corn.304  The  public  oxen  had  had  none  all  summer, 
and  when  he  first  came  here  he  could  obtain  but  eighteen  bushels. 
Evidently,  then,  the  commander  had  oxen  before  many  months 
elapsed,  if  not  from  the  beginning.  There  was,  however,  another 
source  of  annoyance.  If  the  natives  did  not  threaten  to  prevent 
the  building  of  the  fort,  we  may  be  sure  they  made  life  a  burden 
to  the  troops  by  their  begging  and  petty  thievery.  The  Illinois 
Indians  had  an  ancient  reputation,  dating  back  to  the  early 
French  period,  for  being  expert  thieves.  When  the  second  Fort 
Dearborn  was  built  a  dozen  years  later,  begging  and  stealing  by 
the  Indians  became  such  an  intolerable  nuisance  that  if  we  are  to 
credit  the  assertion  of  Moses  Morgan,  who  aided  in  its  construc- 
tion, it  required  more  men  to  mount  guard  by  day  to  keep  the 
squaws  and  papooses  away  than  at  night.305 

»•»  Swearingen's  statements  in  1863,  in  Chicago  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  1856- 
64,348. 

»*•  Kingsbury  Papers,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  July  27,  1804. 

»•»  Moses  Morgan's  narrative,  preserved  by  William  R.  Head,  MS  in  Chicago  His- 
torical Society  library.  Head  was,  until  his  death  in  1910,  a  worker  in  the  local  historical 
field.  Most  of  his  papers  have  been  destroyed,  but  a  few  of  them  are  in  the  Chicago 
Historical  Society  library-  and  a  considerably  larger  number  are  owned  by  his  widow. 
They  will  be  cited  henceforth  as  the  Head  Papers. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  135 

We  have  no  such  detailed  account  of  the  building  of  the  first 
fort,  but  at  least  one  characteristic  incident  has  been  preserved 
for  us  by  Thomas  G.  Anderson.  Anderson,  who  later  fought  on 
the  British  side  in  the  War  of  1812,  was  at  this  time  a  fur  trader 
at  Milwaukee.  In  his  old  age  he  prepared  a  long  narrative  of  his 
life  in  the  West.306  It  is  vainglorious  and  unreliable  in  many 
respects,  but  with  proper  care  one  may  glean  much  of  interest 
and  something  of  value  from  it.  He  relates  that  on  learning  of 
the  coming  of  the  troops  to  Chicago,  he  mounted  his  horse  and 
went  to  pay  a  neighborly  call.307  He  found  Captain  Whistler's 
family  ensconsed  temporarily  in  one  of  the  wretched  log  huts 
which  belonged  to  the  traders,  while  his  officers  and  men  were 
living  under  canvas.  Anderson  accepted  an  invitation  to  dine 
with  Whistler.  The  table  was  spread  and  the  guests  were 
seated,  when  through  the  door  strode  a  band  of  painted  warriors. 
The  women  shrieked  and  fled,  leaving  the  men  to  play  the  r61e  of 
hosts  alone.  The  leader  of  the  savages,  unperturbed  by  this 
reception,  proceeded  to  help  himself  to  the  bread  on  the  table 
and  distribute  it  among  his  warriors.  Anderson  berated  him 
for  his  conduct  and  succeeded  in  inducing  the  band  to  leave; 
whereupon  the  doughty  trader  assumed  to  himself  the  credit 
of  having  averted  a  massacre  of  the  garrison.  It  may  seem 
hazardous  to  attempt  to  extract  the  kernel  of  truth  in  this  tale 
from  the  chaff  which  surrounds  it;  however,  the  opinion  may  be 
ventured  that  some  such  scene  may  have  occurred,  but  that  the 
element  of  danger,  and  therewith  the  credit  which  Anderson 
assumes  for  his  action,  was  wholly  lacking. 

The  work  of  construction  progressed  but  slowly.  Soon  after 
their  arrival  the  troops  suffered  much  from  bilious  fevers.308 
These  abated  with  the  coming  of  cold  weather,  but  in  December 
the  garrison  was  still  sheltered  in  small,  temporary  huts,  and  the 

»•«  For  Anderson's  narrative,  together  with  a  biographical  sketch  of  the  author,  see 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  DC,  137  B.  The  narrative  is  unreliable  in  many  ways,  and 
its  statements  should  be  used  with  caution. 

>•'  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  DC,  154-55. 

»••  Letter  of  Dr.  William  Smith  to  James  May,  December  9,  1803. 


136  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

fort  was  described  as  "not  much  advanced."  Fortunately  the 
autumn  persisted  long.  On  December  9  the  surgeon  wrote  to  a 
friend  in  Detroit  that  there  was  neither  snow  nor  ice,  there  had 
been  but  little  rain  or  frost,  and  the  season  had  been  "remarkably 
fine."30' 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  the  building  of  Fort  Dearborn, 
it  may  be  well  to  refer  to  another  tale  in  connection  therewith 
which  has  often  been  repeated.310  It  is  to  the  effect  that  the 
government,  having  decided  to  establish  a  fort  on  Lake  Michi- 
gan, sent  commissioners  to  St.  Joseph  with  a  view  of  locating  it 
there;  they  selected  a  site  and  began  preparations  for  erecting  a 
fort,  when  the  Indians  objected,  and  so  the  commissioners  passed 
on  to  Chicago,  where  Fort  Dearborn  was  constructed.  No  evi- 
dence has  been  offered  in  support  of  this  story,  notwithstanding 
its  improbability.  In  the  light  of  documents  discovered  in  recent 
years  it  is  possible  to  suggest  an  explanation  of  its  origin.  We 
have  seen  that  Colonel  Hamtramck  was  directed  to  send  a  detail 
to  explore  the  route  and  select  a  site  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Joseph  for  a  temporary  camp;  and  that  Swearingen's  company 
halted  here  for  two  weeks  on  its  way  to  Chicago.  It  is  possible 
that  the  natives,  not  knowing  that  the  camp  was  but  a  temporary 
one,  protested  against  it  and  believed  their  protest  responsible 
for  the  removal  of  the  troops  to  Chicago. 

We  may  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  civilian  population  of 
Chicago  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  Fort  Dearborn,  and 
in  this  connection  to  what  is  known  of  the  first  white  man  who 
settled  at  this  point.  Here  as  elsewhere,  in  connection  with  the 
history  of  early  Chicago,  the  truth  has  been  obscured  by  a  mass 
of  tradition,  fostered  in  large  part  by  family  pride.  The  effort 
to  fix  upon  any  certain  person  the  distinction  of  being  the  first 
resident  of  Chicago  is  idle.  Traders  and  other  travelers  passed 
through  the  place  more  or  less  frequently  from  the  time  of 
Marquette  on,  and  at  various  times  individuals,  ordinarily 

>•»  Letter  of  Dr.  William  Smith  to  James  May,  December  9,  1803. 
"•The  earliest  publication  of  the  story  which  I  have  found  occurs  in  the  Michigan 
Pioneer  Collections,  I,  122. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  137 

traders,  established  themselves  here  for  a  shorter  or  longer  period. 
The  story  of  Father  Pinet's  mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel  at 
Chicago  near  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  has  already 
been  noted.3"  After  this  there  are  several  more  or  less  shadowy 
traditions  of  dwellers  on  the  banks  of  the  Chicago  River  during 
the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  earliest  of  these 
deals  with  a  remarkable  woman,  whose  career  as  painted  for  us 
by  Reynolds  would  be  difficult  to  parallel  elsewhere  in  history.312 
Born  of  French  parents  of  the  name  of  La  Flamme  at  St.  Joseph 
on  Lake  Michigan  in  1734,  she  first  migrated  to  Mackinac. 
From  thence  with  her  husband,  Pilette  de  Sainte  Ange,  she 
removed  to  Chicago  about  the  year  1765.  After  some  years' 
residence  here  her  husband  died  and  she  removed  to  the  French 
settlement  of  Cahokia,  where  she  married  a  Canadian  named 
La  Compt  and  reared  a  large  family  of  children.  Widowed 
again,  she  became  in  due  time  the  wife  of  Tom  Brady.  No 
issue  resulted  from  this  union,  and  Mrs.  Brady  was  destined  to 
still  another  widowhood,  dying  at  Cahokia  in  1843  at  the  age  °f 
one  hundred  and  nine  years. 

Governor  Reynolds  knew  Mrs.  La  Compt,  as  she  was  com- 
monly known  after  Brady's  death,  for  thirty  years,  and  describes 
her  as  a  woman  of  strong  mind  and  an  extraordinary  constitu- 
tion, and  endowed  with  the  courage  and  energies  of  a  heroine. 
The  Indians  were  her  neighbors  from  her  infancy  until  extreme 
old  age;  she  became  familiar  with  their  language  and  their  char- 
acter, and  over  the  Pottawatomies  and  other  tribes  she  developed 
a  remarkable  influence.  This  she  frequently  exerted  during  the 
stormy  days  of  the  Revolution  to  protect  the  French  settlers 
from  attack  by  the  hostile  warriors,  and  later,  in  the  early  days 
of  American  domination  in  Illinois,  she  continued  to  shield  the 
white  settlers.  Reynolds  avers  that  on  numerous  occasions  she 
was  awakened  in  the  dead  of  night  by  her  Indian  friends  to  give 
her  warning  of  an  impending  attack  in  order  that  she  might  leave 

>"  Supra,  pp.  38-42. 

»"  Reynolds,  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,  168-69.  The  story  is  told,  also,  with  certain 
variations  and  additional  details,  by  Wm.  R.  Head  (Head  Papers,  owned  by  his  widow). 


138  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Cahokia.  Instead  of  seeking  her  own  safety,  however,  she 
would  set  out  alone  to  meet  the  hostile  war  party,  and  never 
failed  to  avert  the  storm  and  prevent  bloodshed.  She  sometimes 
remained  with  the  warriors  for  days,  appeasing  their  anger  and 
urging  wise  counsels  upon  them.  In  due  time  the  anxious 
villagers,  who  had  been  watching  meanwhile  with  arms  in  their 
hands  for  the  expected  attack,  would  see  Mrs.  La  Compt  ap- 
proach at  the  head  of  a  band  of  warriors,  their  angry  passions 
stilled  and  their  war  paint  changed  to  somber  black  to  manifest 
their  sorrow  for  having  entertained  hostile  designs  against 
their  friends.  A  feast  would  usually  follow,  cementing  the 
reconciliation  which  Mrs.  La  Compt  had  been  instrumental  in 
effecting,  and  the  warriors  would  disperse. 

That  tradition  has  exaggerated  the  influence  and  services  of 
Mrs.  La  Compt  is  quite  probable.  But  making  due  allowance 
for  this,  the  impression  remains  that  she  was  a  woman  of  unusual 
vigor  and  strength  of  character,  and  it  seems  appropriate  that 
her  name  should  head  the  ever-lengthening  list  of  white  women 
who  have  been  residents  of  Chicago.  The  next  tangible  tradition 
of  white  occupation  of  Chicago  is  contained  in  a  story  told  to 
Gurdon  S.  Hubbard  by  the  trader,  Antoine  De  Champs.313  He 
pointed  out  to  the  youthful  Hubbard  the  traces  of  corn  hills  on 
the  west  side  of  the  North  Branch,  and  related  that  as  early  as 
1778  a  trader  by  the  name  of  Guarie  had  lived  here,  from  whom 
the  river  had  taken  its  name.  Hubbard  gives  further  details 
concerning  Guarie's  trading  house,  taking  pains  to  point  out, 
however,  that  the  statements  are  based  on  oral  tradition.  But 
this  tradition  is  corroborated  in  one  respect  at  least,  for  as  late 
as  1823  the  North  Branch  was  called  the  "Gary"  river  by  the 
historian  of  Major  Long's  expedition.314 

Our  only  knowledge  of  Guarie's  residence  at  Chicago  is  con- 
tained in  the  story  recorded  by  Hubbard,  but  with  the  mixed- 
breed  negro,  Baptiste  Point  Du  Sable,  we  reach  more  solid 
ground.  The  traditional  account  of  his  Chicago  career,  first 

j'»  For  it  see  Blanchard,  Discovery  and  Conquests  of  the  Northwest,  757-58. 
»•«  Keating,  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  to  the  Sources  of  the  St.  Peter's  River  .... 
in  1823, 1,  172. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  139 

recorded  by  Mrs.  Kinzie315  and  afterward  repeated  and  enlarged 
upon  by  others,316  must  be  regarded  as  largely  fictitious  and 
wholly  unauthenticated.  But  by  assembling  the  information 
contained  in  a  number  of  documents  widely  scattered  as  to  date 
and  origin  it  is  possible  to  learn  much  about  him.317  The  usual 
accounts,  following  Mrs.  Kinzie,  represent  Du  Sable  to  have  been 
a  native  of  San  Domingo.  Matson,  on  the  other  hand,  states  that 
he  was  a  runaway  slave  from  the  vicinity  of  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
and  describes  his  coming  to  Chicago  and  his  supposed  doings  here 
with  much  circumstantial  detail.318  Much  of  this  is  obviously 
imaginary,  and  the  two  accounts  are  probably  equally  unworthy 
of  credence.  In  general,  Du  Sable's  occupation  seems  to  have 
been  that  of  a  trader,  though  according  to  his  own  testimony  he 
had  improved  a  thirty-acre  farm  at  Peoria  as  early  as  zySo.319 

As  a  trader  he  moved  from  place  to  place  and  the  date  of  his 
settlement  at  Chicago  and  the  regularity  of  his  stay  here  are  alike 
uncertain.  De  Peyster  says  that  he  was  here  in  1779,  and  also 
darkly  hints  at  some  punishment  meted  out  to  him  by  Langlade, 
the  reputed  "father  of  Wisconsin."320  In  the  summer  of  that 
year,  however,  we  find  him  established  with  a  house  on  the  River 

"s  Mrs.  John  H.  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  the  "Early  Day"  in  the  Northwest,  Caxton  Club 
edition.  This  work  has  been  reprinted  several  times  since  its  first  appearance  in  1856. 
Page  references  to  it  in  this  work  are  to  the  Caxton  Club  edition  of  1901. 

»i4  See,  for  example,  Mason,  "Early  Visitors  to  Chicago,"  in  New  England  Magazine, 
VI,  205-6. 

»"  The  following  sources,  on  a  study  of  which  the  accompanying  account  of  Du  Sable  is 
based,  contain  practically  all  the  information  I  have  been  able  to  collect  concerning  him: 
Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  146;  De  Peyster's  allusion,  in  speech  to  the  Indians  at  PArbre  Croche 
July  4,  1779,  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  384;  McCulloch,  Early  Days  of 
Peoria  and  Chicago,  91-92;  "Recollections  of  Augustin  Grignon,"  in  Wisconsin  Historical 
Collections,  III,  292;  Lieutenant  Bennett's  report  of  arrest  of  Du  Sable,  August,  1779,  in 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVII,  399;  inventory  of  goods  taken  from  Du  Sable  by 
Bennett,  in  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  X,  366;  Journal  of  Hugh  Reward  (MS  original 
owned  by  Clarence  M.  Burton  of  Detroit;  I  have  used  the  copy  in  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society  library);  Schoolcraft,  Personal  Memoirs,  478;  Draper  Collection,  S,  Vols.  XXI 
and  XXII,  passim;  McCulloch,  "Old  Peoria,"  in  Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  Trans- 
actions, 1901,  46. 

3'8  Matson,  N.,  French  and  Indians  oj  Illinois  River,  187-91.  Matson's  information 
purports  to  have  been  obtained  from  a  grandson  of  Du  Sable. 

>'»  McCulloch,  Early  Days  of  Peoria  and  Chicago,  91. 

"•  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  384;  see  also  in  this  connection  ibid., 
399,  note  98. 


140  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Chemin,  later  known  as  Trail  Creek,  probably  on  the  site  of 
Michigan  City,  Indiana.  Here  he  was  arrested  by  Lieutenant 
Bennett,  who  had  been  sent  by  De  Peyster  toward  Vincennes  to 
forestall  an  anticipated  attack  on  Mackinac  by  George  Rogers 
Clark.321  Du  Sable's  offense  seems  to  have  consisted  only  in  his 
attachment  to  the  American  cause,  and  even  his  captor  speaks 
highly  of  him.  Curiously  enough,  he  was  in  the  employ  of  a 
British  trader,  Durand,  at  Mackinac,  who  this  same  summer  had 
undertaken  to  guide  a  British  war  party  to  the  Illinois  country  to 
co-operate  with  Bennett.  The  goods  which  Bennett  seized  from 
Du  Sable  belonged  to  Durand,  who  proceeded  to  file  a  claim  with 
his  government  for  their  value.  Because  of  this  circumstance 
there  is  preserved  an  itemized  inventory  of  Du  Sable's  stock  in 
trade.322  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  entry,  aside  from  the 
quaint  designation  of  Du  Sable  as  a  "naigre  Libre,"  is  the  rum, 
ten  barrels  of  twenty  gallons  each,  with  a  value  nearly  twice  as 
great  as  all  of  the  remainder  of  the  stock. 

Whatever  his  nativity  may  have  been,  Du  Sable  proved,  at 
least  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  government  commission,  that  he 
was  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  In  pursuance  of  a  series  of 
congressional  acts  and  resolutions  providing  for  grants  in  the 
Illinois  country  to  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  had  made 
improvements  or  who  were  heads  of  families,  Du  Sable  made 
proof  that  both  before  and  after  1783  he  had  resided  at  Peoria, 
that  he  was  the  head  of  a  family,  and  that  he  had  improved  a  farm 
of  thirty  acres  at  Peoria  as  early  as  lySo.323  The  commission 
therefore  reported  that  he  was  entitled  to  eight  hundred  acres  of 
land.  How  long  after  1783  he  continued  to  reside  at  Peoria  does 
not  appear,  but  in  1790  we  find  him  established  at  Chicago  near 
the  mouth  of  the  river.  Whether,  as  Mrs.  Kinzie  suggests,  he 
went  into  politics  and  sought  election  as  a  chief  of  the  Pottawat- 
omies  is  dubious,324  but  when  Heward  passed  through  Chicago 

»«  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  399. 
"'  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  X,  366. 
»»  McCulloch,  Early  Days  of  Peoria  and  Chicago,  91. 

»<  Mrs.  Kinzie's  brief  statement  on  this  point  is  greatly  enlarged  and  improved  upon  by 
Matson,  French  and  Indians  of  Illinois  River,  188-91. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  141 

in  the  spring  of  1790,  he  was  entertained  by  Du  Sable.  The 
traveler  exchanged  some  cotton  cloth  with  him  for  a  supply  of 
food,  and  also  borrowed  his  boat.  Four  years  later  he  was  still 
here,  if  Grignon's  recollections  are  to  be  trusted.  Alexander 
Robinson  in  his  old  age  related  that  Du  Sable,  who  had  long  lived 
at  Chicago  and  was  prominent  among  the  Indians,  came  to 
Mackinac  about  the  year  1796,  accompanied  by  quite  a  band  of 
Indians  in  several  birch-bark  canoes.  The  British  greeted  him 
on  his  arrival  by  the  discharge  of  cannon.325 

The  accounts  we  have  of  the  personality  and  character  of  Du 
Sable  are  for  the  most  part  highly  creditable  to  him.  Robinson 
describes  him  as  tall  and  of  commanding  appearance.  Another 
observer,  Stephen  Hempstead,  who  was  acquainted  with  him  in 
his  old  age,  describes  him  as  quite  gray  and  venerable,  about  six 
feet  in  height,  with  a  well-formed  figure  and  a  very  pleasant 
countenance.326  De  Peyster,  himself  a  rhymster  and  a  friend  of 
Robert  Burns,  calls  him  " handsome"  and  well  educated. 
Doubtless  in  this  case  allowance  should  be  made  for  poetic 
license  and  for  the  fact  that  the  poet  probably  never  actually  saw 
the  subject  of  his  verse.  Grignon  recalled  that  Du  Sable  "drank 
pretty  freely,"  and  Robinson  stated  that  he  danced  and  caroused 
with  the  Indians  and  "drank  badly."  By  way  of  palliation  of 
this  charge  it  may  be  noted  that  drinking  was  a  habit  common 
alike  to  Du  Sable's  age  and  his  profession.  There  is  a  much 
larger  mass  of  testimony  in  Du  Sable's  favor  to  offset  this  venial 
habit.  Hempstead,  who  has  already  been  quoted,  says  that  he 
was  not  degraded,  and  that  he  appeared  to  be  respected  by  those 
who  knew  him.  Long  years  after  his  death  the  observant 
Schoolcraft  recorded  the  information  received  from  Mrs.  La 
Framboise,  an  aged  metif  lady  at  Mackinac,  that  he  was  "a 
respectable  man."327  But  the  strongest  praise  comes  from  Lieu- 
tenant Bennett,  Du  Sable's  captor  in  1779.  He  reported  to 
De  Peyster  that  since  his  imprisonment  Du  Sable  had  behaved 

»« Interview  with  Lyman  C.  Draper,  Draper  Collection,  S,  XXI,  276. 

"•Interview  of  Lyman  C.  Draper  with  Hempstead,  Draper  Collection,  S,  XXII,  177. 

J"  Schoolcraft,  Personal  Memoirs,  478. 


142  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

in  every  respect  as  became  a  man  in  his  situation,  and  that  he 
had  many  friends  who  gave  him  a  good  character. 

According  to  the  tradition  preserved  by  Mrs.  Kinzie,  Du  Sable 
withdrew  from  Chicago  to  the  home  of  a  friend  in  Peoria,  where 
he  terminated  his  career.  Alexander  Robinson  stated  that  he 
went  off  to  the  region  of  St.  Louis  and  died  there,  probably  before 
the  beginning  of  the  War  of  i8i2.328  A  more  specific  and,  appar- 
ently, reliable  account  of  his  last  years  is  furnished  by  Hemp- 
stead.329  He  states  that  Du  Sable  had  no  goods  in  these  last 
years,  but  spent  his  time  hunting  and  fishing  and  lived  by  himself. 
He  had  a  hut  near  the  mouth  of  the  Osage  River,  and  here  he 
died,  probably  about  the  year  1811. 

When  the  troops  came  to  Chicago  in  1803  they  found  four  huts 
or  cabins  here,  belonging  to  some  French  Canadian  traders.330 
One  of  these  was  occupied  by  Le  Mai,  who  had  bought  out  Du 
Sable,  one  by  Ouilmette,  and  a  third  by  Fettle.  The  fourth, 
apparently,  belonged  to  Kinzie  and  was  at  this  time  vacant. 
Doctor  Smith,  the  first  surgeon  at  Fort  Dearborn,  and  John  La 
Lime  shortly  secured  possession  of  it  for  the  winter  and  fitted  it 
up  in  a  comfortable  manner  for  their  joint  occupancy.331 

Our  information  concerning  Fettle  is  meager.  According  to 
Mrs.  Whistler  he  was  a  French  Canadian  living  here  with  an 
Indian  wife  when  the  garrison  came  in  1803 .33Z  The  entries  in 
John  Kinzie's  account  books  show  that  his  first  name  was  Louis, 
and  that  he  either  dealt  in  furs  or  himself  hunted  them.333  His 
name  occurs  at  intervals  down  to  1812,  showing  that  he  was  a 
resident  of  Chicago  during  the  entire  period.  With  the  last 
entry  of  his  name  in  Kinzie's  account  book  he  disappears  from 
history.  Possibly  it  may  have  been  his  fate  to  fight  and  die 
with  the  Chicago  militia  at  the  baggage  wagons  on  the  fatal  day 
of  evacuation  in  the  summer  of  1812. 

"8  Interview  with  Lyman  C.  Draper,  Draper  Collection,  S,  XXI,  276. 

>»  Ibid.,  XXII,  177. 

"•  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  25. 

»•  Letter  of  Dr.  Smith  to  James  May,  December  9,  1803. 

»»  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  25.  >«  Barry  Transcript. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  143 

Ouilmette  claimed  to  have  come  to  Chicago  in  I7QO.334  He 
was  illiterate,  and  the  statement,  uncorroborated  as  it  is,  must 
be  accepted  with  caution.  We  know,  however,  that  when  the 
soldiers  came  to  establish  the  fort  he  was  living  with  his  Indian 
wife  in  one  of  the  four  huts  which  they  found  here.335  When 
Doctor  Cooper  came  to  Fort  Dearborn  as  post  surgeon  five  years 
later,  there  were  still  but  four  houses  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river,  of  which  Ouilmette's  was  one.336  Ouilmette's  chief  de- 
pendence for  a  livelihood,  apparently,  was  on  the  transporta- 
tion of  travelers  and  their  baggage  across  the  portage.  It  has 
already  been  shown  that  the  French  settlers  at  Chicago  carried  on 
this  business  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.337 
That  Ouilmette  was  engaged  in  this  work  was  stated  by  Mr. 
Bain  to  Rev.  William  Barry,  founder  and  first  secretary  of  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society.338  An  entry  in  Kinzie's  account 
book  charges  him  for  the  use  of  a  wagon  and  oxen  to  transport 
goods  over  the  portage  to  the  "Fork"  of  the  Illinois  River.339 

In  the  summer  of  1820  John  Tanner,  who  had  been  for  thirty 
years  a  captive  among  the  Indians,  passed  through  Chicago  with 
his  family,  going  by  canoe  from  Mackinac  to  St.  Louis.340  His 
progress  was  halted  here  for  a  time  by  the  low  stage  of  water  in 
the  Illinois  River.  During  this  time  he  suffered  greatly  from 
illness  and  destitution;  he  was  rescued  from  his  plight  by  a 
Frenchman  who  had  been  to  carry  some  boats  across  the  portage. 
His  wife,  who  was  an  Indian,  usually  accompanied  him  on  such 
expeditions.  Although  his  horses  were  much  worn  from  their 
long  journey,  he  agreed  for  a  moderate  price  to  transport  Tanner 
and  his  canoe  sixty  miles,  and,  if  his  horses  should  hold  out,  twice 
this  distance,  the  length  of  the  portage  at  this  stage  of  the  river. 
In  addition  he  lent  Tanner,  who  was  weak  from  illness,  a  young 
horse  to  ride.  Before  the  sixty  miles  had  been  traversed  the 

«« Ouilmette  to  John  (H.)  Kinzie,  June  i,  1839,  in  Blanchard,  The  Northwest  and 
Chicago,  I,  574. 

"sHurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  25.  "'Barry  Transcript. 

M«  Wilson,  Chicago  from  1803  to  1812.  '"Ibid.,  entry  for  June  14,  1806. 

M7  Supra,  p.  19.  »«•  Tanner's  Narrative,  257-58. 


144  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Frenchman  was  himself  taken  sick,  and  as  there  was  now  some 
water  in  the  river  Tanner  dismissed  him  and  attempted  to 
descend  the  river  in  his  canoe.  That  this  Frenchman  was 
Ouilmette  seems  probable.  If  so,  the  narrative  throws  an  inter- 
esting light  upon  both  his  business  and  his  character.  It  shows 
that  the  transporting  of  travelers  over  the  portage  was  a  common 
occupation  of  Ouilmette,  and  further  that  he  was  not  inclined 
to  take  an  unfair  advantage  of  a  weak  and  destitute  traveler. 

Mrs.  Kinzie  represents  that  in  1812  Ouilmette  was  "a  part 
of  the  establishment"  of  John  Kinzie,  and  relates  a  remarkable 
story  of  the  rescue  by  his  family  of  Mrs.  Helm  and  Sergeant 
Griffith  from  impending  slaughter  at  the  hands  of  the  Wabash 
Indians.341  That  Ouilmette  may  have  been  employed  more  or 
less  by  Kinzie  is  not  unlikely;  but  the  details  of  the  rescue  story, 
however  creditable  to  his  family,  are  so  improbable  as  to  challenge 
belief.  It  has  been  said  that  Ouilmette  remained  in  Chicago 
after  the  massacre,  being  the  only  white  inhabitant  during  the 
next  few  years.342  However  this  may  be,  the  new  garrison  which 
came  in  1816  found  him  living  here  in  serene  possession.343 
With  him,  too,  was  the  half-breed  chief,  Alexander  Robinson, 
and  the  two  were  engaged  by  the  soldiers  to  harrow  the  ground 
for  a  vegetable  garden  for  the  garrison.  That  Ouilmette  con- 
tinued to  reside  here  after  this  time  is  shown  by  the  occasional 
mention  of  his  name  by  travelers  and  others  as  one  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  place.344  In  1825  he  was  credited  with  taxable 
property  to  the  amount  of  four  hundred  dollars,  according  to  the 
earliest  known  Chicago  assessment  roll,  and  his  name  is  found 
the  following  year  on  the  first  Chicago  poll  list.345 

But  little  can  be  said  of  the  character  of  Ouilmette.  His  deal- 
ings with  Tanner,  which  have  already  been  recounted,  argue  well 

w  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  182-86. 

"•Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  452;  Andreas,  History  of  Chicago,  I,  184.  I  have 
found  no  indication  of  the  authority  on  which  these  statements  rest. 

i«  Head  Papers,  Narrative  of  Moses  Morgan. 

»«  See,  for  example,  Hubbard,  Life,  37;  John  H.  Fonda,  "Recollections,"  in  Wisconsin 
Historical  Collections,  V,  216. 

>«  Blanchard,  The  Northwest  and  Chicago,  I,  516-17. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  145 

for  his  fairness  and  humanity.  That  he  was  possessed  of  more 
thrift  than  was  the  typical  frontier  French  habitant  of  this  period 
would  seem  to  be  attested  by  the  facts  already  noted.  Moses 
Morgan,  who  was  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  second 
Fort  Dearborn,  had  a  poor  opinion  of  Ouilmette  and  described 
his  appearance  as  that  of  a  "medium  sized  half  starved  Indian." 
He  was  a  Roman  Catholic  and  signed  the  petition  for  the 
establishment  of  the  first  Catholic  church  in  Chicago.346 

We  are  now  ready  to  consider  the  reputed  "father  of 
Chicago,"  John  Kinzie.  According  to  Mrs.  Kinzie,  the  family 
historian,  he  was  born  at  Quebec  in  1763.  Shortly  afterward  his 
parents  moved  to  Detroit,  where  the  father  died  while  John  was 
still  in  infancy.  His  mother  later  married  William  Forsyth, 
who  removed  to  New  York  City,  where  the  boy's  early  childhood 
was  passed.  At  the  age  of  ten  or  eleven  he  ran  away  from  home, 
and,  making  his  way  to  Quebec,  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  silver- 
smith from  whom  he  learned  enough  of  the  trade  to  enable  him 
to  make  the  ornaments  which  so  delighted  the  simple  red  man. 
Meanwhile  his  mother's  family  returned  to  Detroit  where,  later, 
it  was  rejoined  by  the  runaway  son.  In  time  he  engaged  in  the 
Indian  trade,  carrying  on  operations  in  various  places.  The  same 
authority  states  that  his  earlier  establishments  were  at  Sandusky 
and  Maumee,347  and  this  is  confirmed  by  two  independent  sources. 
About  the  time  of  St.  Glair's  defeat  Joseph  Brant,  the  famous 
Iroquois  chieftain,  purchased  a  horse  and  other  supplies  from 
"Mr.  Kinzie,  Silver  Smith  at  the  Miami."348  Henry  Hay,  who 
passed  the  winter  of  1789-90  at  the  Miami  settlement,  makes 
frequent  mention  of  Kinzie  in  the  journal  which  he  kept  of  his 
travels.349  According  to  the  journal  Kinzie  had  both  a  house 
and  a  shop  and  "apprentices."  Hay  draws  an  interesting 
picture  of  the  life  of  the  little  settlement.  Neither  social  nor 

M«  Andreas,  History  of  Chicago,  I,  289.  For  additional  data  about  the  Ouilmette 
family  see  Grover,  Some  Indian  Landmarks  of  the  North  Shore,  277  ff. 

»«  Kinzie,  Wait  Bun,  149.  »'  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XX,  336. 

»» Journal  from  Detroit  to  the  Miami  River,  MS  in  the  Detroit  Public  Library.  The 
journal  is  anonymous,  but  Mr.  Clarence  M.  Burton,  who  has  a  typewritten  copy  of  it, 
ascribes  it  to  Henry  Hay. 


146  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

religious  consolation  was  lacking,  and  Hay  played  his  flute  and 
Kinzie  his  fiddle  indifferently  for  drinking  bout  and  mass.  At 
times  the  two  classes  of  entertainment  followed  each  other  so 
closely  that  the  musicians  went  reeling  from  one  to  the  other. 
"Got  infernally  drunk  last  night  with  Mr.  Abbot  and  Mr. 
Kinzie,"  wrote  the  journalist  on  one  occasion.  "Mr.  A.  gave 
me  his  daughter  Betsy  over  the  bottle.  Damnation  sick  this 
morning  in  consequence  of  last  night's  debashe — eat  no  break- 
fast. Kinzie  &  myself  went  to  mass  and  played  as  usual.  Mrs. 
Ranjard  gave  us  a  Cup  of  Coffee  before  mass  to  settle  our  heads." 
During  these  years  Kinzie  was,  of  course,  in  league  with  the 
enemies  of  the  United  States.  Hay  makes  frequent  mention  of 
the  bringing  in  of  American  prisoners  by  the  Indians,  and  of  the 
presence  of  Little  Turtle,  Blue  Jacket,  and  other  chiefs  hostile  to 
the  Americans,  at  the  village.  In  the  autumn  of  1 793  Kinzie  was 
still  at  the  Maumee  Rapids,  where  he  incurred  the  suspicion  of 
the  Indians  by  his  communications  with  Wells,  one  of  Wayne's 
chief  scouts.350  Probably  his  establishment  was  destroyed,  along 
with  those  of  the  other  British  traders,  by  the  American  army 
following  the  battle  of  Fallen  Timbers.  The  family  historian 
states  that  he  removed  to  the  St.  Joseph  River  about  the  year 
i8oo,3SI  but  he  must  have  located  there  at  an  earlier  date,  for 
William  Burnett  in  1798  speaks  of  him  as  "Mr.  McKenzie  of 
this  place."352  Apparently,  however,  while  carrying  on  trade 
with  the  Indians  at  these  places  Kinzie  retained  some  connection 
with  Detroit.  Hurlbut  found  evidence  in  the  Wayne  County 
records  that  he  was  doing  business  there  in  1795  and  again 
in  I797.353  In  1798  he  married  Mrs.  Eleanor  McKillip,354  the 

»•  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XX,  342,  347.  «•  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  349. 

«• Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  67.  Kinzie  is  a  corruption  of  the  Scotch  name 
Mackenzie,  which  was  the  name  of  Kinzie's  father. 

«j  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  469. 

««  Kinzie  had  formed  an  earlier  connection  with  a  woman  of  the  same  family  name  as 
his  own,  Margaret  McKenzie.  The  story  that  has  been  handed  down  to  us  of  her  career, 
while  doubtless  idealized  through  dint  of  repetition,  well  illustrates  the  possibilities  for 
adventure  of  life  on  the  American  border  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago.  In  the  course  of 
Lord  Dunmore's  war,  Margaret  and  Elizabeth  McKenzie  were  carried  away  from  their 
Virginia  home  into  captivity  among  the  Indians.  The  children  were  adopted  by  a  Shawnee 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  147 

widow  of  a  Detroit  militia  officer  in  the  British  Indian  service 
who  had  been  slain  on  the  Maumee  during  Wayne's  campaign 
against  the  northwestern  tribes.  Mrs.  McKillip  had  a  daughter, 
Margaret,  whom  we  shall  meet  later  as  the  wife  of  Lieutenant 
Helm  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  garrison. 

In  the  spring  of  1804  Kinzie  became  a  resident  of  Chicago. 
The  last  entry  in  his  account  book  at  St.  Joseph  bears  date  of 
April  30,  1804,  while  the  first  at  Chicago  occurs  on  May  12. 
The  hut  which  Du  Sable  and  Le  Mai  had  in  turn  occupied  now 
became  the  habitation  of  Kinzie.  His  business  prospered  and 
he  conducted  trading  "adventures"  at  Peoria,  on  the  Kankakee, 
and  elsewhere,  in  addition  to  the  main  establishment  at 
Chicago.355  By  the  massacre  and  the  train  of  events  brought  on 

chief  who  lived  near  the  Indian  town  of  Chillicothe  in  western  Ohio.  Years  later,  when  they 
had  grown  to  womanhood,  Margaret,  the  elder,  accompanied  her  foster  parent  on  a  hunting 
expedition  to  the  vicinity  of  the  modern  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana.  Here  a  young  brave  sought 
to  force  her  to  marry  him.  Spurning  his  attentions,  she  mounted  a  horse  by  night  and  fled 
through  the  forest  a  distance  of  seventy-five  miles  to  her  Indian  home.  The  horse  is  said  to 
have  died  from  the  effects  of  the  wild  ride,  but  the  maiden  was  made  of  sterner  stuff.  At 
length  Margaret  McKenzie  became  the  wife  of  John  Kinzie,  and  her  sister,  Elizabeth,  the 
wife  of  a  Scotchman  named  Clark.  Whether  the  two  white  men  rescued  the  women  from 
captivity  and  were  rewarded  for  this  service  by  their  respective  hands,  or  the  old  chief 
voluntarily  brought  them  to  Detroit  on  a  visit,  where  the  marriages  were  brought  about  in 
the  usual  way,  depends  upon  which  faction  of  Kinzie's  descendants  tells  the  story.  So,  too, 
it  is  still  a  matter  of  dispute  whether  or  not  the  union  was  cemented  by  a  formal  marriage 
ceremony.  Whatever  the  truth  in  these  respects  may  be,  the  unions  endured  for  a  number 
of  years,  two  children  being  born  to  the  Clarks  and  three  to  the  Kinzies.  With  the  restora- 
tion of  peace  to  the  northwestern  frontier  in  ijgs  Isaac  McKenzie,  the  father,  learned  of  the 
whereabouts  of  his  long-lost  children.  He  journeyed  to  Detroit  to  see  them,  and  when  he 
returned  to  his  home  in  Virginia  his  daughters  with  their  children  accompanied  him,  leaving 
their  woodland  husbands  behind. 

Conflicting  explanations,  colored  in  each  case  by  partisan  pride,  have  been  given  of  the 
reasons  for  this  untimely  breaking-up  of  the  two  families.  Since  the  only  evidence  in  the 
premises  is  family  tradition,  it  seems  vain  to  seek  to  determine  where  the  truth  lies. 
Margaret  Kinzie  later  married  Benjamin  Hall,  while  her  sister  became  the  wife  of  Jonas 
Clybourne.  Two  of  the  former's  children  by  Kinzie,  James  and  Elizabeth,  in  later  years 
came  to  Chicago;  so,  too,  did  the  Halls  and  the  Clybournes;  and  these  various  family 
groups  comprised  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  population  of  Chicago  in  the  later 
twenties.  On  the  subject  of  this  footnote  see  Blanchard,  The  Northwest  and  Chicago; 
Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities;  Andreas,  Chicago;  Gordon,  John  Kinzie,  the  "Father  of 
Chicago."  For  obvious  reasons  the  Kinzie  family  historian  makes  no  mention  in  Watt  Bun 
of  this  feature  of  her  father-in-law's  career.  Mr.  Clarence  M.  Burton  has  a  genealogy 
(MS)  of  the  Kinzie  family  to  which  descendants  respectively  of  John  Kinzie's  first  and 
second  families  have  contributed  their  views  concerning  the  legitimacy  of  the  former. 

M  Barry  Transcript;  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  150. 


148  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

by  the  War  of  1812,  however,  Kinzie's  property  was  largely 
destroyed  and  his  business  was  ruined.  After  his  return  to 
Chicago  in  1816  the  formidable  competition  of  the  American 
Fur  Company  combined  with  other  causes  to  prevent  him  from 
achieving  the  degree  of  success  which  he  had  attained  during  the 
years  from  1803  to  1812. 

The  propriety  of  designating  Kinzie  the  "father  of  Chicago" 
is  dubious.  No  one  individual  can  properly  claim  exclusive  right 
to  this  title.  The  event  which,  more  adequately  than  any  other, 
signalizes  the  beginning  of  modern  white  settlement  here  was  the 
founding  of  Fort  Dearborn;  and  the  man  who  with  more  pro- 
priety than  any  other  may  be  regarded  as  the  "father"  of  the 
modern  city  is  Captain  John  Whistler,  who  built  the  first  fort  and 
for  seven  years  dominated  the  life  within  and  around  its  walls. 
He  came  in  obedience  to  an  order,  of  course,  as  an  officer  in  the 
army.  Kinzie,  on  the  other  hand,  came  nearly  a  year  later  to 
conduct  the  usual  Indian  tradinghouse.  There  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  he  would  have  come  to  Chicago  at  all,  but  for  the 
prior  establishment  of  the  garrison.  Yet  several  other  traders 
had  established  themselves  here,  not  only  before  Kinzie,  but 
also  before  the  garrison  came. 

It  has  been  stated  that  for  nearly  twenty  years  Kinzie  was  the 
only  white  inhabitant  of  northern  Illinois  outside  the  military.356 
So  far  is  this  from  being  true  that  there  was  never  a  moment  of 
time  during  his  residence  at  Chicago  when  he  was  the  only  civilian 
here.  Particularly  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  a  number  of 
civilians  were  living  in  Chicago  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 
The  undue  prominence  in  this  period  of  Chicago  history  which 
Kinzie  has  come  to  hold  in  the  popular  mind  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  he  gained,  after  his  death,  a  daughter-in-law  who  possessed 
the  literary  skill  to  weave  a  romantic  narrative  celebrating  the 
family  name  and  deeds. 

The  name  of  Kinzie  is  unpleasantly  associated  with  two  other 
characters  of  these  early  years,  John  La  Lime  and  Jeffrey  Nash. 
La  Lime  was  at  St.  Joseph  in  1787,  apparently  in  the  employ  of 
William  Burnett.357  Whether  he  located  at  Chicago  before  the 

s««  Kinzie,  Wan  Bun,  146-47.  »'  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  55. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN  149 

garrison  came  is  not  apparent;  if  not,  he  came  the  same  year. 
Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  garrison  he  and  Doctor  Smith,  the 
surgeon,  began  living  together;  they  secured  Kinzie's  house  for 
the  first  winter  and  fitted  it  up  "in  a  very  comfortable  man- 
ner."358 The  fourth  name  entered  in  Kinzie's  account  book  after 
his  removal  to  Chicago  in  May,  1804,  is  that  of  La  Lime.359  In 
the  same  month  he  signed  as  witness  the  articles  of  indenture  of 
Jeffrey  Nash  to  Kinzie  and  Forsyth,  "Merchants  of  Chicago."360 
When  Cooper  came  to  Fort  Dearborn  as  surgeon  in  1808,  La 
Lime  was  living  in  one  of  the  four  houses  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river  and  acting  as  government  Indian  interpreter.361  He  con- 
tinued to  serve  in  this  capacity  until  his  death  shortly  before 
the  massacre  in  the  summer  of  1812. 

But  for  a  single  exception,  all  the  reports  concerning  La 
Lime's  character  which  have  come  to  light  are  highly  creditable 
to  him.  His  few  remaining  letters  show  him  to  have  been  a  man 
of  some  education.  The  esteem  in  which  Jouett  held  him  is 
shown  by  his  naming  a  son  after  him.362  Doctor  Smith,  who  was 
living  with  him  in  the  winter  of  1803-4,  described  him  as  "a  very 
decent  man  and  a  good  companion."363 

In  the  summer  of  1812,  a  few  weeks  before  the  massacre, 
La  Lime  was  stabbed  to  death  by  Kinzie  in  a  personal  encounter 
just  outside  the  entrance  to  Fort  Dearborn.  Unless  new  sources 
of  information  shall  come  to  light,  the  responsibility  for  this 
affray  will  never  be  determined.  La  Lime's  side  of  the  story 
has  not  been  preserved,  except  in  the  form  of  unreliable  verbal 
tradition,  which  pictures  Kinzie  in  the  light  of  aggressor  and 
murderer.364  The  Kinzie  family  tradition  represents  that  La 
Lime,  insanely  jealous  over  Kinzie's  success  as  a  trader,  treacher- 
ously attacked  him,  armed  with  a  pistol  and  dirk,  and  was 

«» Letter  of  Dr.  William  Smith  to  James  May,  December  9,  1803. 

js9  Barry  Transcript. 

j«°This  document  is  preserved  in  the  Draper  Collection,  Forsyth  Papers,  I,  Doc- 
No.  I. 

><"  Wilson,  Chicago  from  1803  to  1812.         *'  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  108. 

j«i  Letter  of  Dr.  William  Smith  to  James  May,  December  9,  1803. 

i«<  Head  Papers.  Head  was  acquainted  with  various  pioneer  Chicagoans,  and  his 
statements  purport  to  be  drawn  from  such  sources.  His  methods  of  work  were  such,  how- 
ever, that  but  little  confidence  can  be  had  in  his  statements. 


150  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

stabbed  to  death  by  Kinzie  in  self-defense.365  Practically  all 
writers  on  Chicago  history  hitherto  have  accepted  this  version,366 
but  it  is  as  little  worthy  of  credence  as  the  contrary  one.  The 
interest  in  the  killing  of  La  Lime  must,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
have  soon  given  place  to  the  general  anxiety  over  the  situation 
produced  by  the  hovering  war  cloud  which  was  now  about 
to  burst.  Within  four  months  came  the  massacre,367  as  the 
result  of  which  over  half  of  the  inmates  of  the  frontier  settle- 
ment were  slain  and  the  remainder  scattered  far  and  wide. 
But  few  of  them  ever  returned  to  Chicago,  and  these,  like 
Rip  Van  Winkle,  drifted  back  after  the  passage  of  years,  as 
to  a  new  world.  That  the  fate  of  La  Lime  should  be  oblit- 
erated by  the  horrors  and  confusion  of  a  three  years'  war  was 
only  natural.  When  in  a  later  generation  interest  in  his  fate 
was  revived  only  the  version  of  it  originating  with  the  relatives 
and  friends  of  the  slayer  gained  the  public  ear,  and  this,  for 
obvious  reasons,  put  the  onus  of  the  affray  on  the  slain.  The 
fact  of  La  Lime's  death  at  the  hands  of  Kinzie  is  clear;  the 
responsibility  for  it  cannot,  in  the  light  of  existing  information, 
be  determined. 

On  May  22,  1804,  articles  of  indenture  were  entered  into 
which  bound  Jeffrey  Nash,  a  "Negro  man,"  to  serve  John  Kinzie 
and  Thomas  Forsyth,  "  Merchants  of  Chicago,"  for  the  term  of 
seven  years.368  The  instrument  describes  Nash  as  an  inhabit- 
ant of  Wayne  County,  although  it  was  executed,  apparently,  at 

•>'«  The  details  of  the  affair  vary,  naturally,  in  the  different  accounts.  For  the  Kinzie 
family  tradition  see  Eleanor  Kinzie  Gordon,  John  Kinzie,  the  "Father  of  Chicago,"  8-9; 
letter  of  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  in  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  Fergus  Historical  Series,  No.  16, 
83;  Mrs.  Porthier's  narrative  in  Andreas,  History  of  Chicago,  I,  105.  Hubbard  procured  his 
information  from  the  members  of  Kinzie's  family.  Mrs.  Porthier,  who  in  old  age  claimed  to 
have  been  an  eyewitness  of  the  killing  of  La  Lime,  was  an  inmate  of  the  Kinzie  household 
for  several  years  following  1816. 

»"  See  for  example  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago;  Kirkland,  The  Chicago  Massacre; 
Andreas,  History  of  Chicago. 

j"  I  have  not  been  able  to  determine  the  exact  date  of  the  death  of  La  Lime.  It  could 
not  have  been  earlier  than  April  13,  however,  since  on  this  date  he  wrote  to  Captain  Wells  of 
Fort  Wayne  an  account  of  the  murders  at  the  Lee  farm  on  April  6  (Louisiana  Gazette,  May 
30,  1812,  copied  by  Lyman  C.  Draper,  Draper  Collection,  S,  Vol.  XXVI). 

>"  Draper  Collection,  Forsyth  Papers,  I,  Doc.  No.  i. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORT  DEARBORN       151 

Chicago.36'  The  Chicago  of  1804  was  located  in  Wayne  County, 
Indiana  Territory,  whose  county  seat  was  Detroit,  over  three 
hundred  miles  away.  In  return  for  meat,  drink,  apparel,  washing, 
and  lodging  "fitting  for  a  Servant,"  Nash  bound  himself  to  the 
maintenance  of  an  utterly  impossible  standard  of  conduct.370 
Doubtless  the  quaint  language  of  the  indenture  simply  followed 
the  customary  form  of  such  documents ;  it  can  scarcely  have  been 
expected  that  the  bound  man  would  live  up  to  its  numerous 
stipulations. 

Nash  signed  the  instrument  by  making  his  mark.  It  might 
reasonably  be  concluded,  even  in  the  absence  of  other  informa- 
tion concerning  him ,  that  this  indenture  practically  reduced  him 
to  slavery.  That  Kinzie  and  Forsyth  chose  to  so  regard  Nash's 
status  is  shown  by  their  treatment  of  him.  He  was  taken  to 
Peoria,  Forsyth's  place  of  residence  from  1802  until  1812,  and  for 
many  years  held  by  the  latter  as  a  slave.371  At  length  he  ran 
away  from  his  bondage  and  made  his  way  to  St.  Louis,  and 
eventually  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  said  to  have  had  a  wife 
and  children.  Forsyth  and  Kinzie  sought  to  recover  possession 
of  him  and  to  this  end  a  suit  was  instituted  in  the  parish  court ; 
the  case  went  ultimately  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Louisiana, 
where  an  interesting  decision  was  rendered.372 

>«»  That  the  indenture  was  entered  into  at  Chicago  I  infer  from  the  facts  that  Kinzie 
opened  his  account  books  here  on  May  12,  and  numerous  entries  in  them  were  made  during 
the  ensuing  ten  days,  and  that  the  name  of  John  La  Lime,  one  of  the  witnesses  of  the 
indenture,  occurs  among  the  entries  for  May  12. 

>'•  Among  the  other  things  it  was  agreed  that  for  the  space  of  seven  years  "the  said 
servant  his  said  Masters  shall  faithfully  serve  their  Secrets  keep  their  lawfully  Command 
everywhere  gladly  Obey.  He  shall  do  no  damage  to  his  said  Masters.  He  shall  not  wast 
his  Masters  goods  nor  lend  them  unlawfully  to  others.  He  shall  not  commit  Fornication  nor 
contract  Matrimony  within  said  Term.  At  dice  Cards  or  any  unlawful  game  he  shall  not 
play  where  by  his  said  Masters  may  be  damaged  with  his  own  goods  or  the  goods  of  others 
during  the  said  Term  without  licence  of  his  said  Masters  he  shall  neither  buy  nor  sell  he  shall 
not  absent  day  nor  night  from  his  said  Masters  Service  without  their  leave  nor  haunt 
Taverns  or  any  place  or  places  without  permission  from  said  Masters  but  in  all  things 
behave  as  a  faithful  Servant  ought  to  do  during  the  said  Term." 

»"  Draper  Collection,  Forsyth  Papers,  Vol.  I,  copy  of  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Louisiana,  June  5,  1816,  in  the  case  of  Kensy  and  Forsyth,  plaintiffs,  versus  Jeffrey  Nash, 
defendant. 

j"  The  summary  given  here  is  based  on  the  manuscript  copy  of  the  decision  in  the 
Forsyth  Papers.  The  case  is  reported  in  Martin,  Louisiana  Reports,  II,  180. 


152  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  plaintiffs  submitted  two  lines  of  evidence  in  support  of 
their  contention  that  Nash  was  their  lawful  slave.  A  number  of 
witnesses  testified  that  for  a  term  of  years  he  had  lived  at  Peoria 
as  Forsyth's  slave,  being  " known  and  reputed"  as  such  by  the 
villagers.  Furthermore  the  plaintiffs  produced  a  bill  of  sale  of 
Nash  to  them,  dated  at  Detroit,  September  5,  1803,  and  there 
recorded  and  duly  authenticated.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
articles  of  indenture  whereby  Nash  bound  himself  "voluntarily 
as  a  servant"  to  Kinzie  and  Forsyth  for  a  term  of  seven  years 
were  executed  in  May,  1804,  there  seems  to  be  no  escape  from 
the  conclusion  that  the  bill  of  sale  was  a  forgery,  fabricated  for 
the  use  to  which  it  was  now  put.  Although  it  deceived  the  court, 
the  fraud  brought  no  profit  to  the  plaintiffs.  The  judges 
declared  that  since  the  Ordinance  of  1787  prohibited  slavery  in 
the  Northwest  Territory  unless  under  two  exceptions,  the  plain- 
tiffs' "alleged  possession"  of  Nash  could  only  have  been  lawful 
at  the  time  the  bill  of  sale  was  produced  on  two  grounds.  There 
could  be  complete  ownership  and  slavery  only  in  case  the  person 
claimed  had  been  convicted  of  a  crime  by  which  his  freedom  was 
forfeited.  Or,  if  the  defendant  were  a  fugitive  from  involuntary 
servitude  in  another  state,  he  might  be  seized  and  returned  to 
servitude  there. 

The  plaintiffs  did  not  claim  Nash  on  this  latter  ground,  how- 
ever. Their  contention  was  for  the  absolute  right  to  hold  Nash 
during  his  natural  life  and  dispose  of  him  as  they  pleased.  Their 
conduct  toward  him  showed  that  they  unlawfully  attempted  to, 
and  did  successfully,  exercise  for  years  the  right  of  absolute  con- 
trol over  him,  until  he  at  last  sought  safety  in  flight.  Since  no 
evidence  had  been  produced  to  show  that  Nash  had  forfeited  his 
freedom  because  of  conviction  for  crime,  the  decision  was  given 
for  him  with  costs.  Thus  did  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  slave 
state  of  Louisiana  uphold  the  free  character  of  the  soil  of  Illinois, 
and  rescue  a  free  man  from  bondage,  at  a  time  when  slavery 
openly  flourished  here,  and  slaves  were  bought  and  sold  and  held 
in  bondage  even  by  such  prominent  characters  as  the  governor 
of  the  territory. 


CHAPTER  VII 

NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE 

The  privations  and  loneliness  of  life  at  the  new  post  on  the 
Chicago  River  in  the  years  following  1803  can  be  imagined  by 
most  readers  only  with  difficulty.  Only  those  who  have  expe- 
rienced the  deadly  dulness  of  military  routine  at  an  isolated 
station  can  appreciate  it  properly.  All  witnesses  agree  in  testify- 
ing to  the  overpowering  loneliness  of  life  under  such  conditions 
as  prevailed  at  Fort  Dearborn  from  1803  to  1812.  "In  compas- 
sion to  a  poor  devil  banished  to  another  planet,"  wrote  Governor 
St.  Clair,  from  Cincinnati,  to  Alexander  Hamilton,  in  1795, 
"  tell  me  what  is  doing  in  yours,  if  you  can  snatch  a  moment  from 
the  weighty  cares  of  your  office."373  One  day  in  October,  1817, 
a  year  after  the  establishment  of  the  second  Fort  Dearborn, 
Samuel  A.  Storrow,  who  was  making  a  tour  through  the  North- 
west, appeared  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Chicago  River,  and 
shortly  after  entered  the  fort,  where  he  was  received  "as  one 
arrived  from  the  moon."374  A  British  officer,  writing  from 
Mackinac  in  1796,  laments  as  follows:  "You  talk  of  your 
place  being  duller  than  ever,  &c,  believe  me  it  cannot  be  put 
in  competition  with  ours  for  dullness,  jealousy,  and  envy, 
with  all  the  etceteras  mentioned  in  yours."375  And  Captain 
Heald,  writing  from  Fort  Dearborn  in  June,  1810,  within  a 
few  days  of  his  taking  command  there,  announces  that  unless 
he  can  obtain  a  leave  of  absence  to  go  to  New  England  the 
coming  autumn  he  will  resign  the  service,  and  leave  the  com- 
mand to  another.  It  is  a  good  place  for  a  man  with  a  family, 
who  can  be  content  to  "live  so  remote  from  the  civilized  part 
of  the  world." 

j«  Smith,  The  St.  Clair  Papers,  II,  318. 
««  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  VI,  179. 
"s  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XII,  211. 

153 


154  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  little  establishment  at  Fort  Dearborn  constituted  a 
miniature  world,  with  interests  and  ambitions  quite  detached 
from  those  of  the  larger  world  outside.  The  principal  means  of 
contact  with  the  latter  was  afforded  by  the  traders  who  passed 
through  Chicago,  proceeding  with  their  merchandise  to  the 
Indian  country  or  returning  therefrom  with  the  fruits  of  their 
barter.  They  brought  the  news  of  the  outside  world  to  the 
inmates  of  the  garrison  and  surrounding  cabins.  Each  year  a 
vessel  from  Detroit  or  Mackinac  brought  a  supply  of  merchandise 
to  the  traders  at  Milwaukee,  Chicago,  and  St.  Joseph,  and  took 
back  the  stock  of  furs  accumulated  by  them.376  Aside  from  these 
visits  there  were  official  communications  from  time  to  time 
between  the  commanding  officers  of  the  little  group  of  north- 
western posts,  to  which  Fort  Dearborn  belonged,  and  advantage 
was  taken  of  the  opportunity  thus  presented  to  transmit  letters 
and  items  of  private  import.  Occasionally,  too,  the  brig, 
"Adams,"  constituting  the  chief  part  of  Commodore  Brevoort's 
"navy  of  the  lakes,"  would  pay  a  visit  to  Chicago.  It  must 
have  been  an  occasion  of  rare  excitement  in  the  lives  of  the 
inmates  of  Fort  Dearborn  when  Kingsbury  passed  through 
Chicago  with  a  company  of  troops  in  the  spring  of  1805,  on  his 
way  to  superintend  the  establishment  of  Fort  Belle  Fontaine 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  River.377 

Only  belated  rumors  of  the  events  of  the  outside  world 
ordinarily  penetrated  the  seclusion  of  Fort  Dearborn.  From 
November  until  May  it  was  as  isolated  as  though  on  another 
planet.  We  have  in  epitome  the  story  of  the  failure  of  one 
attempt,  made  by  Captain  Whistler  in  December,  1809,  to 
break  this  isolation.  He  obtained  a  month's  leave  of  absence 
to  journey  to  Cincinnati.378  Today  the  round  trip  may  be  made 
and  a  fair  day's  business  transacted  in  twenty-four  hours. 
Whistler  left  Chicago  the  last  of  November  and  reached  Fort 
Wayne  December  10,  "much  fatigued  after  n  days  wairy  travel- 

"*  Antoine  le  Claire's  statement  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  239-40. 
"i  For  the  facts  concerning  this  expedition  see  the  Kingsbury  Papers,  letter  book, 
passim. 

"'Ibid.,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  December  12,  1809. 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  155 

ing  through  rain  and  snow."  The  water  was  so  high  that  his 
further  progress  was  prevented.  Finding  it  impossible,  should 
he  proceed,  to  be  back  at  his  post  by  the  end  of  the  month,  he 
prepared  to  return  to  Fort  Dearborn,  grateful  to  his  superior 
for  the  opportunity  accorded  him  as  though  he  had  succeeded 
in  making  the  journey. 

Kingsbury's  letter  books,  whose  contents  relate  to  the  several 
northwestern  posts  in  general,  are  the  best  source  of  information 
upon  the  conditions  that  prevailed  at  Fort  Dearborn  in  this 
period.  In  October,  1804,  Kingsbury  writes  from  Mackinac 
to  an  eastern  correspondent  urging  him  to  reply  immediately, 
in  which  case  the  answer  will  reach  Mackinac  by  the  first  vessel 
in  the  spring,  which  will  probably  arrive  in  May  or  June.379 
The  answer  is  to  be  directed  to  Detroit,  the  postmaster  there 
having  agreed  to  forward  his  mail  to  him  at  Mackinac.  A  year 
later,  when  Kingsbury  is  at  Fort  Belle  Fontaine,  a  St.  Louis 
friend  sends  him  a  bundle  of  newspapers,  but  requests  him  to 
preserve  them  in  order  that  the  writer  may  have  a  file  of  "  Steady 
Habits"  to  peruse  in  a  " Hypochrondichal  hour."380  How  the 
inmates  of  Fort  Dearborn  sometimes  received  their  mail  is  shown 
by  a  letter  of  William  Burnett,  the  St.  Joseph  trader,  to  his 
Detroit  correspondent  in  January,  1804,  in  which,  among  other 
things,  he  mentions  the  receipt  of  the  letters  and  newspapers 
for  "the  doctor  at  Chicagou"  and  promises  to  forward  them  at 
the  first  opportunity.381 

The  observations  of  the  frontier  officers  upon  the  public 
news  of  the  outside  world  constitute  an  interesting  part  of  their 
correspondence.  In  August,  1805,  Kingsbury  is  informed  by  a 
Mackinac  correspondent  that  the  French  and  English  fleets  have 
not  met,  "which  we  consider  an  Unfortunate  Circumstance," 
as  no  doubt  is  felt  of  the  triumph  of  the  British  in  the  event  of  a 
combat.382  The  French  have  captured  a  rich  American  ship 
near  Charleston,  and  the  public  prints  are  full  of  complaints 

"» Ibid.,  Kingsbury  to  Benjamin  Ellis,  October  16,  1804. 

si'Ibid.,  E.  Hempstead  to  Kingsbury,  October  17,  1805. 

3"  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  VIII,  547- 

3"  Kingsbury  Papers,  David  Mitchell  to  Kingsbury,  August  24,  1805. 


156  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

against  the  President  for  suffering  such  depredations  upon 
American  commerce.  Bonaparte  has  gone  to  Italy  "to  extort 
much  money  from  the  Italians."  Another  correspondent  of 
Kingsbury  sends  news  late  in  February,  1805,  of  the  election 
of  Jefferson  to  the  presidency.383  An  item  which  has  a  familiar 
ring  relates  that  "Congress  have  done  nothing  since  in  Session 
worth  mentioning  that  have  come  to  our  knowledge."384 

Thus  the  public  news  items  run.  Bonaparte  has  been  pro- 
claimed "Emperor  of  the  Gauls";385  the  death  of  Hamilton  is 
announced,  with  regret.  Burr  has  fled  from  New  York,  fearing 
assassination.  The  probabilities  of  a  war  with  Spain  and  of  a 
revolt  in  Louisiana  are  gravely  discussed.  The  traders,  too, 
had  their  disputes.  Shortly  before  Kinzie  removed  to  Chicago, 
he  became  involved  in  a  business  dispute  with  an  associate 
named  Pattinson.  The  latter  addressed  an  acrid  letter  to  him 
"dictated  in  such  terms  of  impertinency  that  he  pointly  brings 
in  question  Kenzie's  character,  relative  to  their  concerns.  In  a 
word  he  calls  him  everything  but  a  gentleman."386  Burnett  of 
St.  Joseph  who,  though  not  directly  implicated  in  the  Pattinson- 
Kinzie  quarrel,  seems  to  have  sympathized  with  the  latter,  also 
became  involved  in  the  dispute.  Pattinson  claimed  that  Burnett 
had  insulted  him  by  speaking  disrespectfully  to  his  brother  of 
his  government,  and  by  calling  his  house  a  "hog-sty."  Burnett 
replied  that  it  was  not  his  intention  to  have  "hurted  their  tender 
feelings,"  but  that  in  the  course  of  an  argument  over  the  relative 
greatness  of  Great  Britain  and  America,  in  which  Pattinson  had 
made  extravagant  claims  for  the  former,  he  took  it  upon  himself 
to  contradict  "this  high  flier."  It  is  refreshing  to  discover  that 
at  a  time  when  our  government  was  humiliating  itself  before 
those  of  Great  Britain  and  France,  the  honor  of  America  was 
thus  valiantly  upheld  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  northwestern 
frontier. 

>*>  Kingsbury  Papers,  Clemson  to  Kingsbury,  February  24,  1805. 

3«<  Ibid. 

>**  Ibid.,  Kingsbury  to  Whistler,  September  10,  1804. 

j«6  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  VIII,  546-47. 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  157 

The  garrison  at  Chicago  made  what  progress  it  might  to 
complete  the  fort  and  prepare  for  the  coming  winter.  The  work 
of  construction  was  seriously  impeded,  however,  by  the  lack  of 
necessary  tools,  and  even  the  supplies  of  provisions  and  clothing 
for  the  men  were  inadequate.  In  July,  1804,  a  year  after  the 
arrival  of  the  troops,  Kingsbury  learned  from  Major  Pike  and 
Doctor  Smith  that  Whistler's  men  were  almost  destitute  of 
clothing.387  That  the  destitution  extended  to  other  things  as 
well  is  shown  by  his  letter  to  Whistler  informing  the  latter  that 
he  has  ordered  a  supply  of  clothing,  kettles,  stationery,  hospital 
stores,  a  whip-saw,  and  other  things  to  be  sent  to  Chicago  by 
the  brig,  "Adams."  At  the  same  time  Kingsbury  congratulates 
Whistler  upon  having  accomplished  so  much  with  his  meager 
resources,  with  "no  clothing  for  the  men,"  and  without  the 
necessary  tools  with  which  to  work. 

That  the  construction  of  the  fort  was  not  yet  completed 
would  seem  to  be  indicated  by  numerous  entries  in  Kinzie's 
account  book  during  the  summer  of  1804  of  the  names  of  men  who 
are  designated  as  sawyers.388  Two  weeks  after  Kingsbury's 
letter  informing  Whistler  of  the  shipment  of  supplies,  the  latter 
writes  that  they  have  been  received.389  But  the  whip-saw  can 
be  of  little  use  without  files,  for  oak  is  the  only  saw  timber  avail- 
able at  Chicago.  There  is  clothing  for  the  sergeants,  but  no 
invoice  of  it  has  been  sent,  and  until  this  arrives  the  clothing 
cannot  be  used.  Fifty-six  suits  of  clothing  have  been  received, 
but  he  has  sixty-six  men  to  supply.  He  has  two  fifers  but  t  je 
only  fife  has  been  lost.  Watch  coats  are  needed  very  badly. 
There  has  been  no  corn  for  the  public  oxen  all  summer  and  none 
can  be  procured  here.  All  of  these  things  may  be  sent  by  Kinzie, 
who  is  coming  from  Detroit  in  about  a  month. 

Along  with  these  homely  details  of  toil  and  privation  are 
others  of  more  private  interest,  ranging  in  character  from  grave 
to  gay.  On  the  first  of  November,  1804,  occurred  the  first 

»•»  Kingsbury  Papers,  Kingsbury  to  Whistler,  July  12,  1804. 

i"  Barry  Transcript. 

3»»  Kingsbury  Papers,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  July  26  and  27,  1804. 


158  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

recorded  wedding  of  white  people  at  Chicago.  It  was,  too,  a 
society  affair,  for  the  contracting  parties  were  Sarah,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  Captain  Whistler,  and  James  Abbott,  the  Detroit 
merchant.  The  proud  father-in-law  in  announcing  the  event, 
states  that  he  has  long  known  and  "had  a  great  opinion  of"  the 
bridegroom.390  The  family  genealogist  records  that  the  marriage 
ceremony  was  performed  by  John  Kinzie,  and  that  the  bridal 
couple  indulged  in  an  overland  wedding  journey  to  Detroit, 
traveling  on  horseback  and  tenting  at  night.391 

The  next  day  after  Chicago's  first  wedding  the  family  of 
Kingsbury  at  Mackinac  was  gladdened  by  the  appearance  of  a 
new  daughter.392  In  announcing  the  event  to  Colonel  Hunt  at 
Detroit,  the  happy  father  hopes  to  hear  of  the  latter  being  in  a 
similar  situation,  unless  he  happens  to  prefer  that  Mrs.  Hunt 
should  present  him  with  a  son.  Shortly  afterward  Kingsbury 
ordered  from  Detroit,  by  the  first  vessel  in  the  spring,  some  wal- 
nut and  cherry  boards  and  a  cow  and  calf.393  He  had  already 
requested  Whistler  to  send  him  some  walnut  planks  from 
Chicago.394  Whistler  responded  by  sending  him  two,  but 
explained  that  these  were  all  he  could  procure  and  that  he  had 
not  yet  made  a  single  table  for  himself.395 

Less  pleasing  than  the  marriages  and  births  are  the  reports 
of  fever  and  other  ills  which  beset  the  occupants  of  the  garrisons 
in  the  new  country.  Fort  Dearborn  was  only  a  year  old  when 
Whistler  reported  that  more  than  half  of  his  men  had  been  ill. 
Whipple  at  Fort  Wayne,  writing  in  September,  1804.  praises  his 
new  surgeon;  since  his  arrival  the  sick  list  which  had  numbered 
twenty-five  has  been  materially  reduced.396  "We  have  all  been 
sick  since  you  left  this,"  wrote  Clemson  from  Detroit  in  October 
of  the  same  year.397  The  writer  had  not  yet  recovered  from  the 

0  Kingsbury  Papers,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  November  3,  1804. 

1  Whistler  family  genealogy,  MS  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 
1  Kingsbury  Papers,  Kingsbury  to  Hunt,  November  n,  1804. 

i  Ibid.,  Kingsbury  to  Clemson,  November  21,  1804. 
•Ibid.,  Kingsbury  to  Whistler,  October  16,  1804. 
'Ibid.,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  November  3,  1804. 
»'  Ibid.,  Whipple  to  Kingsbury,  September  i,  1804. 
»'  Ibid.,  Clemson  to  Kingsbury,  October  27,  1804. 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  159 

severe  attack  of  the  fever,  but  expected  with  the  assistance  of 
the  frosty  nights  to  regain  his  strength.  At  the  same  time  Lieu- 
tenant Rhea's  little  garrison  on  the  Maumee  was  in  a  desperate 
condition.  On  July  31  he  reported  that  in  addition  to  himself 
ten  men  out  of  his  force  of  twenty-one  were  ill.398  A  month 
later  the  number  of  sick  men  remained  about  the  same;  the  wife 
of  a  corporal  was  at  the  point  of  death,  and  Rhea  had  sent  to 
the  River  Raisin  for  a  physician,  expecting  to  pay  the  expense 
himself.399  He  appeals  urgently  for  help  and  for  removal.  The 
"musketoes"  are  so  thick  that  a  well  person  cannot  sleep  at 
night;  the  place  was  never  intended  "for  any  Christian  to  be 
posted  at." 

A  year  later,  in  July,  1805,  a  pathetic  letter  from  Whistler 
at  Fort  Dearborn  announces  that  Mrs.  Whistler  is  at  the  point 
of  death.400  She  is  in  constant  pain,  and  frequent  bleeding  is  the 
only  thing  that  affords  her  any  relief.  The  anxious  husband 
bravely  reflects  that  while  there  is  life  there  is  hope,  but  laments 
his  unhappy  state,  with  so  large  a  family  of  children,  should  he 
lose  "so  good  a  companion." 

In  Captain  Heald's  journal401  occurs  the  entry,  "On  the  4th 
of  May,  1812,  we  had  a  son  born  dead  for  the  want  of  a  skilful 
Midwife."  The  picture  of  the  sorrow  and  tragedy  concealed 
behind  these  few  words  may  appropriately  be  left,  as  it  has  been 
by  the  parent,  to  the  imagination.  Three  months  later  the  young 
Kentucky  bride,  still  grieving  we  may  well  believe  over  the  loss 
of  her  first-born,  conducted  herself  with  such  spirit  during  the 
terrible  scenes  of  the  massacre  as  to  arouse  the  admiration  of 
even  the  savage  foe. 

The  diversions  of  the  garrison  were,  naturally,  but  few. 
Fishing  and  hunting,  and  an  occasional  athletic  contest  with  the 
Indians  who  visited  the  fort  were  the  chief  outdoor  amusements. 
From  its  first  discovery  by  the  French  until  well  into  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  region  around  Chicago  was  a  perfect  hunter's 

»*Ibid.,  Rhea  to  Kingsbury,  July  31,  1804. 

"•Ibid.,  Rhea  to  Kingsbury,  August  31  and  September  8,  1804. 

4«o  Ibid.,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  Julv  12.  1805. 

««•  For  it  see  Appendix  III. 


160  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

paradise.  When  Cooper  came  to  Fort  Dearborn  in  1808  the 
officers  and  most  of  the  civilians  possessed  horses,  cows,  and 
dogs.402  Cooper  himself  had  two  good  saddle  horses,  two  cows, 
and  a  hunting  dog.  There  was  an  abundance  of  game  in  the 
immediate  vicinity.  Within  a  week  of  Cooper's  arrival,  his 
dog  and  several  others  chased  three  deer  past  the  post  into  the 
river.  A  young  soldier  who  was  in  a  canoe  without  any  weapon 
sprang  into  the  water  as  the  deer  were  swimming  past,  caught 
one  by  the  neck,  and  held  its  head  under  water  until  it  was 
drowned.  Cooper's  dog  seized  the  second,  but  the  third,  a  large 
stag,  gained  the  north  bank  and  escaped. 

Not  long  after  this  Cooper  and  Captain  Whistler,  while 
riding  out  together,  came  upon  a  large  wolf  within  half  a  mile 
of  the  fort.  Their  dogs  took  up  the  chase  and  soon  brought 
him  to  bay.  The  officers  had  no  pistols,  and  the  dogs  mani- 
fested a  wholesome  respect  for  the  formidable  looking  teeth  of 
the  wolf,  and  so  they  were  called  off  and  the  animal  allowed  to 
go  his  way  without  further  molestation.  The  howling  of  wolves 
at  night  was  a  common  occurrence  during  these  years.  Grouse 
and  other  game  birds  were  abundant,  as  were  fish  in  the  river 
and  lake,  so  that  in  the  hunting  season  the  officers  spent  much 
of  their  leisure  time  with  gun  and  rod. 

We  are  indebted  to  Surgeon  Cooper  for  the  story  of  a  notable 
athletic  contest  at  Chicago,  the  description  of  which  stirs  the 
blood,  even  after  the  lapse  of  a  hundred  years.403  Lieutenant 
William  Whistler  was  a  splendid  specimen  of  physical  manhood, 
over  six  feet  in  height  and  famous  for  his  strength  and  powers 
of  endurance.  Among  the  visitors  at  Fort  Dearborn  was  a 
Pottawatomie  chief  of  similar  physique  and  about  the  same  age 
as  Whistler.  He  was  a  great  runner  and  enjoyed  the  reputation 
of  never  having  been  defeated  in  a  race.  A  five-mile  foot  race 
between  the  two  men  was  arranged,  Whistler  wagering  his 
horse  and  accouterments  against  the  horse  and  trappings  of  the 
chief.  Both  the  red  men  and  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison  were 

«•»  Wilson,  Chicago  from  1803  to  1812.  «•»  Ibid. 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  161 

confident  of  the  prowess  of  their  respective  champions.  The 
Indians  staked  their  ponies  and  other  available  property  on  the 
chief  and  the  soldiers  accepted  the  wagers  as  fast  as  offered. 
The  contest,  which  was  witnessed  by  several  hundred  Indians 
and  the  entire  garrison,  was  won  by  Whistler,  after  a  superb 
struggle,  by  a  margin  of  a  few  yards. 

The  final  sequel  of  the  race,  according  to  the  same  authority, 
came  some  years  later  and  was  even  more  thrilling.  During  the 
War  of  1812  the  same  chief,  now  serving  with  the  British,  sent  a 
challenge  to  individual  combat  to  Lieutenant  Whistler  or  any 
officer  or  soldier  in  his  command.  It  was  promptly  accepted 
by  Whistler  himself,  and  as  the  result  of  the  ensuing  hand-to- 
hand  combat  with  knife,  sword,  and  tomahawk,  firearms 
not  being  allowed,  the  red  man  departed  for  the  happy  hunting 
ground. 

An  account  of  the  garrison  life  at  Fort  Dearborn  in  this 
period  would  be  incomplete  without  some  reference  to  a  drearier 
subject  than  any  yet  mentioned.  The  personnel  of  the  army 
at  this  time  was  far  from  high.  A  considerable  proportion  of 
the  men  were  foreigners,404  and  a  far  larger  number  were 
illiterate.405  The  life  at  the  frontier  posts  was  monotonous, 
drinking  and  desertions  were  common,  and  the  punishment 
for  infractions  of  discipline  was  atrocious.  We  have  no  record 
of  the  court  martial  proceedings  at  Fort  Dearborn,  but  the 
records  for  some  of  the  other  northwestern  posts  are  painfully 
abundant,  and  a  sketch  of  their  contents  will  answer  as  well 
for  Fort  Dearborn.  The  orderly  book  of  Anthony  Wayne, 
who  has  been  well  described  as  a  "furious  disciplinarian,"406 

««<  Of  the  fifty-nine  men  in  Captain  Whistler's  company  at  Fort  Detroit  in  1812  eight- 
een were  foreigners.  Of  the  fifty  men  in  Captain  Rhea's  company  at  Fort  Wayne  in  1810 
fourteen  were  foreigners  (Kingsbury  Papers,  quarterly  returns  of  the  companies  in  question). 

4»s  Approximately  60  per  cent  of  the  members  of  Captain  Heald's  company  at  Fort 
Dearborn  at  the  close  of  the  year  1811  were  unable  to  sign  their  names  to  the  payroll 
receipts  (payroll  receipt  of  Fort  Dearborn  garrison  for  last  quarter  of  the  year  1811,  in 
Heald  Papers,  Draper  Collection,  U,  VIII,  92). 

«•«  Detroit  Tribune,  April  5,  1896. 


1 62  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

presents  a  picture  of  corporal  punishments  meted  out  to  the 
soldiers  at  Detroit  in  1797,  worthy  of  the  palmiest  days  of 
the  army  of  Frederick  the  Great.407 

The  commonest  offense  charged  was  drunkenness,  the  usual 
penalty  for  which  was  the  public  infliction  of  from  twenty-five 
to  one  hundred  lashes,  and  in  the  case  of  petty  officers  reduction 
to  the  ranks.  Occasionally  resort  was  had  to  other  methods  to 
punish  and  humiliate  the  guilty  one.  One  culprit,  a  corporal, 
charged  with  desertion,  was  sentenced  to  walk  the  gauntlet 
six  times  between  double  ranks  of  soldiery,  both  ranks  striking 
at  the  same  time.408  Two  camp  followers,  a  man  and  a  woman, 
charged  with  selling  liquor  to  a  soldier  were  sentenced  to  be 
drummed  out  of  camp  to  the  tune  of  the  Rogues'  March,  with  a 
bottle  suspended  around  the  neck  of  each  and  the  man's  left 
hand  tied  to  the  woman's  right.  In  this  plight  they  were  to  be 
paraded  past  the  citadel  and  through  the  barracks  of  the  soldiery 
and  the  principal  streets  of  the  town.409  The  man's  sentence 
was  remitted,  but  that  against  the  woman  was  carried  into 
execution  the  same  afternoon.  Still  another  culprit,  guilty  of 
enticing  a  soldier  to  desert,  was  ordered  to  be  given  fifty  lashes 
with  "wired  Catts,"  to  have  the  left  side  of  his  head  and  his 
right  eyebrow  close  shaved,  and  to  be  drummed  with  a  rope 
around  his  neck  through  the  citadel  and  fort  and  the  principal 
streets  of  the  town.410 

It  may  be  supposed  that  the  punishments  inflicted  under 
Wayne's  command  were  severer  than  those  meted  out  at  Fort 
Dearborn  a  few  years  later.  Yet  they  show  what  might  be  done 
by  an  army  officer  at  that  time  in  the  maintenance  of  discipline. 
The  records  of  courts  martial  at  Fort  Detroit  under  Kingsbury's 
regime,  after  Whistler's  removal  thither  from  Fort  Dearborn 

«'The  orderly  book  is  printed  in  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XXXIV,  341-734. 
It  covers  the  five-year  period  from  1792  to  1797.  The  cases  which  I  have  chosen  for 
illustration  all  occurred  at  Detroit  in  the  last-mentioned  year. 

«••  Ibid.,  704. 

«•»  Ibid.,  701-9. 

"•Ibid.,  715. 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  163 

in  1810,  probably  reflect  fairly  the  state  of  affairs  at  Fort  Dear- 
born.4" In  general  the  punishments  are  milder  than  those 
formerly  meted  out  under  Wayne.  The  common  crimes  were 
still  drunkenness  and  desertion.  For  the  former  sentences  of 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  lashes  on  the  "bear  back"  were  com- 
monly decreed.  It  should  be  noted  that  Whistler  and  Helm, 
both  of  whom  served  at  Fort  Dearborn,  were  often  members  of 
the  court  by  which  these  sentences  were  imposed. 

Two  specific  instances  will  be  cited,  in  both  of  which  Captain 
Whistler  acted  as  president  of  the  court  martial.  On  May  23, 
1811,  Peter  Sendale,  a  private  soldier,  was  tried  for  drunkenness. 
The  accused  pleaded  guilty,  but  advanced  the  ingenuous  excuse 
by  way  of  extenuation  that  he  had  worked  hard  all  day  in  the 
Colonel's  garden,  that  he  had  the  latter's  permission  to  go  and 
get  a  drink,  and  that  he  "took  a  little  too  much."  Notwith- 
standing this  plea  he  was  sentenced  to  receive  twenty-five  lashes 
on  the  "bear  back."  In  the  other  case  two  men  were  charged 
with  desertion.  They  admitted  the  offense,  but  pleaded  in 
mitigation  of  it  that  they  had  repented  of  the  act  and  were 
returning  to  their  post  of  duty  when  arrested.  The  testimony 
given  satisfied  the  court  of  the  truth  of  this,  yet  the  prisoners 
were  sentenced  to  pay  the  cost  of  their  apprehension  and  to  be 
confined  at  hard  labor  with  ball  and  chain  for  a  period  not  to 
exceed  one  year.  The  court  took  occasion  to  observe  that  the 
punishment  was  not  proportioned  to  the  heinousness  of  the 
offense,  and  that  its  mildness  was  due  solely  to  the  testimony 
concerning  the  prisoners'  belated  repentance. 

We  may  now  direct  our  attention  to  Fort  Dearborn  itself 
and  to  those  persons  who  composed  its  official  family  from 
1803  to  1812.  There  exist  two  contemporary  pictures  of  the 
fort  and  its  surroundings  in  the  year  1808,  one  the  verbal  account 
of  Surgeon  Cooper  as  recorded  by  James  Grant  Wilson,412  the 
other  a  diagram  carefully  drawn  to  scale  by  Captain  Whistler, 

«"  Kingsbury  Papers,  records  of  court  martial  proceedings,  passim. 
«"  Wilson,  Chicago  from  1803  to  1812. 


1  64 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


and  accompanied  by  a  summary  verbal  description.413  The 
river  at  that  time  made  a  sharp  turn  about  an  eighth  of  a  mile 
from  the  lake,  and  after  running  in  a  general  southerly  direction 
lost  itself  in  the  lake  a  mile  south  of  its  present  mouth.  The 
fort  was  built  on  a  slight  elevation  close  to  the  bend  of  the  river, 
which  enveloped  it  on  its  northern  and  eastern,  and  to  some 
extent  on  its  western,  sides.  The  barracks  and  other  structures 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  garrison  were  built  around  the 
four  sides  of  a  quadrangle,  facing  inward  toward  the  center. 
Two  blockhouses,  one  containing  two  small  cannon,  the  other 
containing  one,  stood  at  the  northwestern  and  southeastern 
corners  of  the  quadrangle,  and  the  whole  was  inclosed  within  a 

«"  The  original  is  in  the  files  of  the  War  Department  at  Washington.     Because  of  its 
historical  value  the  verbal  description  which  accompanies  the  drawing  is  reproduced  here: 


INDEX   ANNEXED   TO   THE   DRAUGHT   OF   FORT  DEARBORN   &C. 


No. 


Block  Houses 

2  Port  Holes  for  Cannon 

3  Loop  Holes  for  small  arms 

4  Magazine 

5  Inward  Row  of  pickets 

6  Outward  Row  of  pickets 

7  Main  Gate 

8  Wicket  Gate 

9  Guard  House 

10  Comm'g  Officers  Barracks 

11  Officers  Barracks 
1  2  Soldiers  Barracks 

13  Contractors  Store 

14  Hospital  Store 

15  Asst.  Military  Agt.  Store 

it)  Small  Houses  in  the  garrison 


No. 

17  Agents  House 

18  Factors  House 

19  Interpreters  House 
ao  Armerers  Shop 

21  Merchants  Shop 

12  Bake  House 

23  House  in  Factors  Dept. 

24  Stables 

25  River  Cheykago 

26  Banks  of  said  River 

27  Wharf  of  said  River 

28  Low  ground  between  said  bank  &  River. 

29  Beach  between  Sd.  River  and  Lake. 

30  John  Kinzie  Esq.  House  on  the  opisite  side 

River 

31  Gather  Dwelling  Houses  on  opisite  side  River 

32  Old  Grist  Mill  Worked  by  Horses 


NOTE,  the  Barracks  are  two  storeys  high  with  shingled  Roofs  and  Galliaries  fronting  the 
parade.  The  measurement  of  the  Garrison  including  the  Block  Houses  And  Barrick  are  laid  down  at 
twenty  feet  to  the  Inch  the  Cupolas  are  not  yet  built  on  the  Block  Houses  as  laid  down.  The  Dwell- 
ing houses  mentioned  in  the  Indian  Department  are  laid  down  at  forty  feet  to  the  Inch,  the  oather 
houses  without  any  Regular  rule.  The  River  is  not  regularly  surveyed  but  still  gives  a  strong  Idea 
of  Its  Courses  it  is  about  six  miles  in  length,  except  in  high  water,  at  which  time  there  is  no  portage 
to  the  Illinois  River. 

The  distances  from  the  denrant  places  to  the  Garrison  as  mentioned  with  Red  Ink  on  & 
red  lines,  are  accurately  measured,  but  not  laid  down  by  a  scale.  The  woodland  on  the  reserve  Lyes 
on  the  north,  &  west,  sides  of  the  Garrison  except  a  small  strip  of  woods  about  one  mile  in  length 
and  two  hundred  yards  in  breadth,  Lying  on  the  bank  of  the  river  south  west  of  the  Garrison.  Along 
the  Margin  of  Said  Woods,  is  good  medow  and  supplyes  the  Garrison  with  hay.  On  the  North  and 
west  sides  of  the  Garrison  there  has  been  a  quantity  of  underwood  and  shruby  Bushes  such  as  prickly 
Ash  &c.  they  are  now  cut  down  and  cleared  off,  all  within  one  Fourth  of  a  Mile  of  the  Garrison. 

On  the  south  and  southwest  sides  of  the  Garrison  is  a  large  parraria  on  which  stands  The  afore- 
said strip  of  woods  as  laid  down  in  the  Draught,  and  the  distance  from  the  Garrison  three  fourths  of  a 
Mile.  On  the  East  side  is  the  Lake.  There  has  been  A  picket  fence  on  the  Opisite  side  of  the  river, 
northwest  of  the  Garrison  as  laid  Down,  this  fence  might  serve  as  a  Barrier  against  the  Garrison  as 
the  pickets  were  five  feet  in  length,  sufficient  in  thickness  to  prevent  a  Musket  Ball  from  doing  execu- 
tion to  an  Enemy  lying  behind  them.  I  thought  it  proper  for  the  safety  of  the  Garrison  to  have  them 
taken  up  and  replaced  with  a  common  rail  fence.  At  this  time  the  Garrison  (except  the  Houses  on  the 
Opisite  side  of  the  river  being  somewhat  in  the  way)  is  perfectly  secure  from  any  ambuscade  or  Barrier. 

The  Branch  that  emptys  into  the  Cheykag  is  considerably  the  longest,  and  has  the  greatest 
current.  The  parraria  on  the  south  and  southwest  as  already  mentioned  is  of  great  extent. 

Fort  Dearborn  2o.th  Feb.y  1808.    J.  Whistler  Capt. 


FORT  DEARBORN  AND  VICINITY  IN  1808 

From  the  original  draft  by  Captain  Whistler  in  the  archives  of  the  War 

Department  at  Washington 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  165 

double  row  of  palisades,  so  arranged  that  the  blockhouses 
commanded  not  only  the  space  without  the  four  walls,  but  also 
that  inclosed  between  the  two  rows  of  palisades.  Thus  if  an 
enemy  should  scale  the  first  row  he  would  only  find  himself  within 
a  narrow  inclosure  between  that  and  the  second  which  was  swept 
at  every  point  by  the  fire  from  the  blockhouses.  From  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  stockade  to  the  river  was  a  distance  of 
eighty  feet,  and  from  a  point  midway  of  the  eastern  side  it  was 
sixty  yards. 

Within  the  stockaded  inclosure  were  the  barracks  for  the 
officers  and  men.  They  were  two  stories  in  height,  with  shingled 
roofs  and  covered  galleries,  and  occupied  the  middle  of  each  side 
of  the  inclosure  facing  toward  the  parade  ground,  in  the  center 
of  which  stood  a  lofty  flagstaff.  The  commanding  officer's 
quarters  stood  on  the  east  side,  and  directly  opposite  were  those 
for  the  subordinate  officers.  The  main  gateway  of  the  stockade 
was  at  the  middle  of  the  south  side  and  was  flanked  on  either 
side  by  the  main  barracks  for  the  common  soldiers.  The  building 
opposite  was  in  part  devoted  to  barracks  for  the  soldiers  and  in 
part  to  housing  the  contractor's  store  of  supplies.  Between  this 
building  and  the  northwestern  blockhouse  stood  the  magazine, 
a  small  structure  made  of  brick.  This  alone  defied  the  fire 
which  destroyed  the  fort  at  the  time  of  the  massacre.  Two 
small  houses,  one  near  the  northeast  corner  of  the  inclosure  and 
the  other  in  the  corner  diagonally  opposite,  completed  the  list 
of  structures  within  the  stockade.  The  parade  ground  was 
surrounded  by  gutters  for  carrying  off  the  water.  A  small  wicket 
gate  in  the  stockade  gave  ingress  and  egress  near  the  north- 
western blockhouse.  From  the  northeast  corner  of  the  stockade 
a  covered  way  led  to  the  river,  securing  thus  to  the  garrison  access 
in  safety  to  the  water  in  time  of  attack. 

To  the  south  of  the  fort  were  the  commanding  officer's 
gardens  in  which,  in  Cooper's  time,  melons  and  other  small 
fruit  and  vegetables  were  raised.  Somewhat  to  the  east,  between 
the  fort  and  the  mouth  of  the  river,  was  a  smaller  garden  and 
an  Indian  graveyard.  A  short  distance  to  the  southwest  were 


1 66  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

two  log  houses,  one  occupied  by  Matthew  Irwin,  the  United 
States  factor,  and  the  other  by  Charles  Jouett,  the  Indian 
agent.  On  the  north  side  of  the  river,  almost  directly  opposite 
the  fort,  was  the  house  of  John  Kinzie,  with  outbuildings  and  a 
"Kitchen"  garden.  Whistler's  diagram  represents  three  houses 
to  the  westward  of  Kinzie's  establishment,  but  omits  the  names 
of  their  owners.  The  omission  is  supplied  by  Cooper,  however, 
who  says  that  in  his  time  there  were  four  houses  on  the  north 
side,  occupied  by  Kinzie,  Ouilmette,  La  Lime,  and  Le  Mai. 
La  Lime  and  Ouilmette  were  Frenchmen;  Le  Mai  was  a  half- 
breed,  married  to  a  Pottawatomie  squaw. 

In  addition  to  these  houses  Whistler's  drawing  represents  a 
considerable  number  of  houses  and  outbuildings  ranged  around 
the  fort  devoted  to  various  purposes.  Among  these  are  houses 
for  the  interpreter  and  for  the  factor's  department,  an  armorer's 
shop,  a  merchant's  shop,  and  a  bake  shop,  besides  several  stables 
on  the  south  side;  and  on  the  north  side,  near  Kinzie's  place,  a 
"Grist  Mill  Worked  by  Horses." 

In  the  rear  of  the  group  of  houses  on  the  north  side,  the 
space  between  the  lake  and  the  north  branch  of  the  river  was 
covered  with  timber.  Along  the  east  side  of  the  South  Branch, 
stretching  southward  from  the  forks  of  the  river,  was  another 
strip  of  timber,  two  hundred  yards  in  width  and  a  mile  long. 
Except  for  this  strip  of  woodland,  the  area  to  the  south  and  south- 
west of  the  fort  constituted  what  Whistler  quaintly  designates 
as  "a  large  Parraria."  Along  the  inner  margin  of  this  woodland 
lay  a  good  meadow  which  supplied  the  garrison  with  hay.  Close 
to  the  forks  on  the  south  side  of  the  main  river  a  small  field  of 
eight  or  nine  acres  had  been  reduced  to  cultivation  and  made  to 
serve  as  the  company  gardens  and  public  cornfield. 

It  is  evident  from  Whistler's  description  that  he  took  careful 
measures  to  prepare  the  fort  against  the  possibility  of  a  hostile 
attack.  The  ground  to  the  north  and  west  was  clear  as  far  as 
the  woodland  mentioned,  which  lay  at  a  distance  of  three-fourths 
of  a  mile  from  the  fort.  The  east  side  was  protected,  of  course, 
by  the  river  and  the  lake.  To  the  west  and  the  north  the  ground 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  167 

had  originally  been  covered  with  an  undergrowth  of  prickly 
ash  and  other  scrubby  bushes,  but  this  had  been  cleared  away 
to  a  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  stockade.  On  the 
north  side  there  had  been  erected  a  heavy  picket  fence,  four  feet 
in  height  and  sufficiently  strong  to  afford  an  enemy  protection 
against  musketry  fire  from  the  fort.  This  Whistler  caused  to  be 
removed  and  replaced  by  a  common  rail  fence.  At  the  time  of 
making  this  diagram,  in  the  winter  of  1808,  Whistler  announced 
with  satisfaction  that  the  garrison  was  now  perfectly  secure 
from  an  ambuscade  or  barrier,  except  for  the  houses  on  the 
north  side,  which  were  somewhat  in  the  way. 

It  is  evident  that  the  number  of  civilians  clustered  around 
the  fort  in  the  years  prior  to  the  massacre  was  considerably 
greater  than  has  ordinarily  been  supposed.  Cooper  says  there 
was  a  house  a  mile  to  the  southeast  of  the  fort,  owned  by  a 
farmer  who  supplied  the  garrison  with  butter  and  eggs,  and  one 
near  the  forks  of  the  river  occupied  by  a  man  named  Clark  who 
was  a  cattle  dealer.  Whistler's  drawing  represents  two  houses 
at  the  forks,  one  occupied  by  a  discharged  soldier,  and  a  house 
and  inclosed  field  north  of  the  river,  belonging  to  Mr.  "Coursoll." 
There  were  two  Courselles,  one  of  them  a  well-known  trader,  but 
the  only  other  record  of  either  of  them  being  at  Chicago  is  the 
recurrence  of  their  names  in  Kinzie's  account  books.  The 
farmer  mentioned  by  Cooper  was  probably  Lee,  at  whose  farm 
on  the  South  Branch  the  preliminary  massacre  of  April,  1812, 
occurred.  But  Cooper  does  not  mention  the  Burns  family,  which 
Mrs.  Kinzie  describes  as  living  on  the  North  Side  at  the  time  of 
the  massacre.  In  addition  to  these  were  the  houses  which 
Whistler  shows  belonging  to  the  Indian  agent's  and  the  factor's 
departments.  The  conclusion  drawn  from  these  various  bits  of 
evidence  concerning  the  number  of  dwellers  around  Fort  Dear- 
born is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  after  the  murders  at  the  Lee 
farm.  Captain  Heald  enrolled  fifteen  militiamen  from  the  civilian 
population  outside  the  fort.  It  should  be  noted,  too,  that  three 
of  the  long-time  residents  of  Chicago,  La  Lime,  Ouilmette,  and 
Kinzie,  were  not  included  in  this  number. 


1 68  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Of  the  officers  stationed  at  Fort  Dearborn  before  the  massacre, 
the  regime  of  Captain  John  Whistler  was  the  longest  and  in 
many  respects  the  most  important.  Whistler  was  descended 
from  an  old  English  family,  but  he  himself  was  born  in  Ireland, 
whither  his  immediate  ancestors  removed,  in  I758.414  In  a 
youthful  freak  he  ran  away  from  home  and  joined  the  army, 
coming  to  America  during  the  Revolution  with  the  troops  under 
Burgoyne.  He  was  thus  one  of  the  members  of  that  general's 
ill-fated  army  captured  by  the  Americans  at  Saratoga.  On  his 
return  to  England  Whistler  received  his  discharge  from  the  army, 
and  soon  after,  forming  an  attachment  for  the  daughter  of  one 
of  his  father's  friends,  eloped  with  her,  coming  a  second  time  to 
America  and  settling  at  Hagerstown,  Maryland.  He  entered 
the  American  army  in  1791  and  served  continuously  on  the 
northwestern  frontier  under  St.  Clair,  Wayne,  and  others,  from 
that  time  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  1812.  He  was 
commander  at  Fort  Dearborn  from  1803  to  1810,  when  he  was 
transferred  to  Fort  Detroit,  under  circumstances  which  will 
shortly  demand  our  attention.  He  served  under  Hull  in  1812 
and,  if  family  tradition  is  to  be  credited,  was  so  enraged  over  the 
capitulation  that  he  broke  his  sword  rather  than  surrender  it  to 
the  enemy. 

The  founder  of  Fort  Dearborn  thus  enjoyed  the  unique 
experience  of  having  been  captured,  along  with  the  British  army 
in  which  he  served,  by  the  Americans,  and  thirty-five  years  later, 
as  a  member  of  Hull's  army,  of  being  taken  by  the  British.  His 
connection  with  Chicago  history  is  not  limited  to  building  and 
commanding  Fort  Dearborn.  His  eldest  son  served  under  him 
here  as  lieutenant  for  several  years;  his  eldest  daughter,  as  we 
have  seen,  became  Chicago's  first  bride;  and  another  daughter 
married  Lieutenant  Joseph  Hamilton,  who  also  served  under 
Whistler  at  Fort  Dearborn. 

William  Whistler  came  with  his  father  to  Fort  Dearborn  as 
second  lieutenant  in  1803,  accompanied  by  his  bride  of  a  year. 
She  was  even  now  but  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  was  destined  to 

<•<  Whistler  family  genealogy,  MS  in  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  169 

be  the  last  surviving  witness  of  the  building  of  the  first  Fort 
Dearborn.  After  several  years  of  service  here,  Lieutenant 
Whistler  was  transferred  to  Fort  Wayne.  His  term  of  service 
in  the  army  lasted  sixty  years,  during  which  time  he  had,  accord- 
ing to  Mrs.  Whistler,  but  six  short  furloughs.415  Like  his  father 
he  was  captured  along  with  Hull's  army  at  Detroit.  In  1845 
he  became  colonel  of  the  Fourth  Infantry,  the  regiment  to  which 
General  Grant  belonged  during  the  Mexican  War;  and  in  after 
life  the  famous  general  told  many  anecdotes  concerning  his 
former  commander.416 

Two  other  descendants  of  Captain  John  Whistler  demand  at- 
tention at  this  point.  George  Washington  Whistler  was  a  toddling 
child  three  years  of  age  when  the  commander  brought  his  family 
to  the  new  home  in  the  summer  of  1803.  Here,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Chicago  River,  during  the  next  few  years  the  child  devel- 
oped into  sturdy  boyhood.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  graduated 
from  West  Point  and  was  assigned  to  the  artillery  branch  of  the 
service.  Until  1833,  when  he  resigned  his  commission,  he  was 
engaged  largely  in  engineering  and  topographical  enterprises. 
After  his  resignation  from  the  army  he  rose  to  eminence  as  an 
engineer,  and  during  the  remainder  of  his  life  was  engaged  in 
many  important  enterprises.  In  1842  he  went  to  Russia  to  enter 
the  service  of  the  Czar  in  the  construction  of  the  railroad  from 
St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow.  In  recognition  of  his  services  in 
this  and  other  engineering  enterprises  in  Russia  Emperor 
Nicholas  in  1847  conferred  upon  him  the  decoration  of  the 
Order  of  St.  Anne.417 

A  son  of  the  famous  engineer,  James  Abbott  McNeil  Whist- 
ler, achieved  in  the  realm  of  art  an  even  greater  reputation  than 
had  his  father  in  that  of  engineering.  Whistler's  artistic  achieve- 
ments are  so  well  known  that  there  is  no  need  to  discuss  them 
here.  His  connection  with  Fort  Dearborn  is  not  so  commonly 

««  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  27. 

««  Heitman,  Dictionary  of  the  United  States  Army,  I,  470,  1026;  Wilson,  Chicago  from 
1803  to  1812. 

"i  On  George  Washington  Whistler  see  Vose,  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Works  of  George  W. 
Whistler,  Civil  Engineer. 


170  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

understood,  although  the  very  names  he  bore  served  constantly 
to  advertise  it.  James  Abbott  was  Chicago's  first  bridegroom, 
who,  as  we  have  seen,  married  Sarah  Whistler  here  in  the  fall  of 
1804.  The  artist  himself  never  saw  Chicago,  but  with  the  excep- 
tion of  West  Point  there  was  no  other  place  in  the  United  States 
in  which  he  was  so  much  interested.418  He  regarded  his  grand- 
father as  the  founder  of  Chicago,  and  more  than  once  lamented 
his  failure  to  visit  the  place. 

The  connection  of  James  Strode  Swearingen,  the  youthful 
second  lieutenant  who  conducted  the  troops  from  Detroit  to 
Chicago  in  the  summer  of  1803,  with  Fort  Dearborn  was  but 
brief.  Because  of  the  physical  infirmity  of  Captain  Whistler, 
Swearingen  offered  to  lead  the  troops  from  Detroit  to  Chicago 
for  him,  and  this  made  it  possible  for  Whistler  to  proceed  around 
the  lakes  on  the  sailboat,  "Tracy."419  With  the  arrival  of  the 
troops  at  Chicago  Swearingen's  duty  was  discharged.  He 
accordingly  returned  to  Detroit  on  the  "Tracy"  and  there 
rejoined  his  company.  He  retired  from  the  army  in  1815, 
owing  to  the  importunity  of  his  wife,  and  settled  at  Chillicothe, 
Ohio,  where  he  lived  in  affluence  until  his  death  in  I864.420 

Doctor  William  C.  Smith,  the  first  surgeon  at  Fort  Dearborn, 
was  succeeded  in  1808  by  John  Cooper,  who  was  sent  here 
immediately  after  he  entered  the  service.  Cooper's  grandfather 
fought  under  Wolfe  at  Quebec,  and  was  near  his  leader  when  he 
fell.421  The  grandson  was  born  at  Fishkill,  New  York,  in  1786. 
He  came  to  Fort  Dearborn  by  way  of  Albany  and  Buffalo,  where 
he  boarded  the  brig,  "Adams,"  commanded  by  Commodore 
Brevoort.  The  voyage  across  Lake  Erie  consumed  a  week, 
and  another  week,  including  stops,  was  spent  in  passing  through 
the  River  and  Lake  St.  Clair  and  on  to  Mackinac.  After  several 

«•'  Statements  of  General  James  Grant  Wilson,  January  7,  1908,  in  letter  to  Chicago 
Historical  Society  library.  Wilson  was  a  personal  acquaintance  of  Whistler. 

«» Swearingen's  account  of  the  expedition  from  Detroit  to  Chicago  in  1803,  MS  in 
Chicago  Historical  Society  library,  Proceedings,  1856-64,  348. 

«"  Heitman,  Dictionary  of  the  United  Stales  Army,  I,  939;  Wilson,  Chicago  from  1803 
to  1812. 

«"  Wilson,  op.  cit. 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  171 

days'  delay  at  the  latter  place  the  brig  proceeded  by  way  of 
Green  Bay  to  Chicago,  which  was  reached  in  three  days.  After 
three  years'  service  at  Fort  Dearborn,  Cooper  resigned  from  the 
army  and  returned  to  the  East  by  way  of  the  overland  route  to 
Detroit,  which  had  been  followed  by  the  troops  under  Swearingen 
eight  years  before.  The  journey  to  Detroit  required  fourteen 
days.  From  Detroit  he  went  by  way  of  Fort  Wayne  and 
Pittsburgh  to  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  where  he  made  his 
home  and  practiced  his  profession  for  over  half  a  century, 
dying  in  iSd^.423 

The  year  1810  saw  the  culmination  at  Fort  Dearborn  of  a 
garrison  quarrel  which  resulted  in  the  dispersion  of  the  official 
family  far  and  wide  and  the  appearance  of  a  new  set  of  officials 
at  the  post.  It  might  be  supposed  that  the  sense  of  isolation  and 
the  need  of  mutual  assistance  would  bind  together  the  little 
group  of  inmates  of  a  frontier  post,  such  as  Fort  Dearborn,  as 
with  bands  of  steel.  But,  alas  for  erring  human  nature,  all  too 
often  conditions  quite  the  contrary  prevailed.  "When  society 
is  thin,"  wrote  the  same  British  officer  from  Mackinac  whose 
complaint  in  1796  of  the  dulness,  envy,  and  jealousy  in  existence 
there  has  already  been  noted,  "I  agree  with  you.  They  should 
make  the  most  of  it,  but  I  don't  know  how  it  is.  I  have  always 

found  it  the  reverse "^  "The  Amusements  have  not 

been  general  this  Winter  in  Detroit.  Indeed  there  has  been 
none  worth  mentioning,  Society  a  good  deal  divided,"  runs  a 
letter  to  Kingsbury  in  the  winter  of  i8o5-424 

As  early  as  the  autumn  of  1804  a  quarrel  developed  among 
the  garrison  officers  of  Fort  Dearborn.  The  details  left  us  are 
meager,  but  we  know  that  Lieutenant  Campbell  raised  charges 
against  Doctor  Smith,425  who  in  turn  preferred  charges  against 
Lieutenant  Whistler,426  and  that  Captain  Whistler  placed  Smith 

<"  Ibid.  «»  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XII,  an. 

«<  Kingsbury  Papers,  Clemson  to  Kingsbury,  February  24,  1805. 

<«  Ibid.,  Smith  to  Kingsbury,  November  3,  1804;  Clemson  to  Kingsbury,  October  27, 
1804. 

**  Ibid.,  Clemson  to  Kingsbury,  October  27,  1804. 


172  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

under  arrest.427  Thus,  to  quote  from  a  contemporary  letter, 
"a  flame"  was  "kindled  at  Chicago."428  Unfortunately  for  the 
historian,  Captain  Whistler  found  the  affair  "to  disagreeable" 
for  him  to  report,  further  than  the  bare  announcement  of  the 
surgeon's  arrest.429  Possibly  the  difficulty  was  settled  by  the 
elimination  of  Lieutenant  Campbell,  for  he  resigned  from  the 
army  a  few  months  later,430  while  both  Smith  and  the  Whistlers 
continued  to  serve  at  Fort  Dearborn  for  several  years. 

The  feud  which  culminated  in  1810  was  far  more  serious. 
Our  sources  of  information  are  scanty  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
quarrel,  but  fuller  and  more  satisfactory  for  its  course  and  con- 
clusion. That  there  existed  a  rivalry  at  Fort  Dearborn  over  the 
garrison  trade,  and  that  this  rivalry  was  the  cause  of  the  feud, 
is  clear.  As  early  as  the  summer  of  1807  Kinzie  and  John 
Whistler,  Jr.,  a  younger  son  of  the  commander,  entered  into  a 
partnership  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  this  trade.431  The 
connection  lasted  until  August  21,  1809,  when  for  some  reason 
not  now  known  it  was  dissolved.432  That  some  discord  had 
developed  is,  however,  reasonably  apparent  from  what  fol- 
lowed. Six  weeks  after  the  dissolution,  Doctor  Cooper,  who 
had  become  the  firm  friend  of  Captain  Whistler,433  sought  and 
obtained  permission  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  suttle  for 
the  garrison.434 

«"  Kingsbury  Papers,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  November  3,  1804. 

«••  Ibid.,  Clemson  to  Kingsbury,  October  27,  1804. 

«"  Ibid.,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  November  3,  1804. 

«»•  Heitman,  Dictionary  of  the  United  States  Army,  I,  276. 

«'  Barry  Transcript,  entry  for  July  26,  1807;  Kingsbury  Papers,  Matthew  Irwin  to 
Kingsbury,  April  29,  1810.  That  it  was  John  Whistler,  Jr.,  who  was  Kinzie's  partner  is 
apparent  from  the  county  records  at  Detroit  cited  by  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  469. 

•»  Barry  Transcript,  entry  for  August  21,  1809. 

«"  Wilson,  Chicago  from  1803  to  1812.  On  leaving  Fort  Dearborn  in  1810,  Whistler 
presented  Cooper  a  pistol  and  a  copy  of  Shenstone's  poems.  The  latter  was  given  by 
Cooper  to  General  James  Grant  Wilson,  and  he  in  turn  presented  it  to  the  Chicago  His- 
torical Society.  Cooper  wrote  to  Kingsbury  at  the  time  of  the  quarrel  that  he  was  willing 
to  sell  his  life  to  prove  Whistler's  innocence  of  the  charges  against  him  (Kingsbury  Papers). 
The  date  and  salutation  of  this  letter  have  been  cut  off,  but  it  was  evidently  written  soon 
after  May  26,  1810. 

«<  Drennan  Paper*,  Nicoll  to  Whistler  and  Cooper,  November  i,  1809. 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  173 

To  "suttle"  meant  to  supply  the  soldiers  with  articles  not 
furnished  them  by  the  government.  Shortly  after  Cooper's 
arrival  at  Fort  Dearborn  Matthew  Irwin  had  been  appointed 
Government  factor,  to  conduct  the  Indian  trading  establishment 
at  Chicago.435  He  seems  also  to  have  held,  as  did  Varnum,  the 
former  factor,  the  appointment  of  Government  contractor  for 
supplying  the  garrison  with  such  provisions  as  were  furnished 
the  soldiers  by  the  government.436  The  privilege  which  Cooper 
had  obtained  of  suttling  for  the  garrison  interfered  not  only  with 
Irwin's  profits  but  also  with  those  of  Kinzie,  who,  until  the 
dissolution  of  the  partnership  with  the  younger  Whistler,  had 
enjoyed  this  trade.  Irwin  and  Kinzie  soon  drew  together  in 
opposition  to  Captain  Whistler,  whom  they  seem  rightly  to  have 
regarded  as  the  real  power  behind  Cooper.  For  some  reason 
Jouett,  the  Indian  agent,  and  Lieutenant  Thompson  joined  the 
Irwin-Kinzie  coalition;  Lieutenant  Hamilton,  who  was  Whist- 
ler's son-in-law,  of  course  sided  with  the  latter,  and  the  quarrel 
soon  became  furious. 

Irwin  claimed  that  Whistler  and  his  adherents  combined  in  a 
policy  of  persecution  calculated  to  force  him  to  give  up  his  posi- 
tion as  contractor  in  order  that  Whistler's  son  might  regain  it.437 
Whistler,  on  the  other  hand,  asserted  that  the  "  malignant 
wretches"  opposed  to  him,  particularly  Jouett,  were  guilty  of 
defrauding  the  public;  as  for  Lieutenant  Thompson,  he  was  a 
mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  his  associates,  who  despised  him  even 
while  they  used  him.438  Jouett  had  told  of  his  running  away  to 
escape  paying  his  landlord,  and  Whistler  stated  he  had  acknowl- 
edged himself  a  "Liar"  in  the  presence  of  all  the  gentlemen  of 
the  fort  and  its  vicinity.  Cooper  bore  a  challenge  to  a  duel 
from  Lieutenant  Hamilton  to  Kinzie,  which  the  latter  declined 

*>s  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIX,  326. 

"'That  Irwin  held  this  appointment  is  shown  by  his  letters  to  Kingsbury;  e.g.,  see 
letter  of  April  29,  1810,  in  Kingsbury  Papers.  My  conclusion  that  Varnum  had  been  con- 
tractor as  well  as  factor  is  based  on  certain  entries  in  the  Barry  Transcript. 

«'  Kingsbury  Papers,  Irwin  to  Kingsbury,  April  29,  1810.  The  obnoxious  conduct 
of  Whistler,  Hamilton,  and  Cooper  is  detailed  at  considerable  length  in  this  letter. 

»*Ibid.,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  May  27,  1810. 


174  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

to  accept,  contenting  himself  with  roundly  cursing  both  principal 
and  second.439  Half  a  century  later  Cooper  described  the  trader 
as  a  man  of  ungovernable  temper,  who  frequently  engaged  in 
bitter  quarrels. 

The  opposition  to  Whistler,  determined  to  drive  him  from 
Chicago  if  not  from  the  army,  preferred  charges  against  him 
to  Kingsbury  and  demanded  a  court  martial.  Among  other 
things,  aside  from  the  claim  that  he  had  conspired  with  Hamilton 
and  Cooper  to  force  Irwin  to  give  up  his  office,  it  was  claimed 
that  he  had  beaten  a  soldier  for  not  trading  with  his  son,440  and 
had  defrauded  the  government  by  raising  ten  acres  of  corn,441 
apparently  by  the  labor  of  soldiers.  On  the  other  hand  Cooper 
preferred  charges  against  Thompson  which  he  believed  would 
inevitably  "brake"  him.442  It  is  not  possible  with  the  informa- 
tion available  to  decide  the  question  of  right  between  the  two 
warring  parties,  but  it  is  significant  that  Whistler  and  later 
Captain  Heald,  both  of  whom  incurred  the  enmity  of  Kinzie, 
repeatedly  received  testimonials  of  confidence  from  their  brother 
officers.  Captain  Heald,  who  succeeded  Whistler  at  Fort 
Dearborn,  reported  that  he  had  found  everything  in  good 
condition  and  believed  that  Whistler  had  paid  "  particular 
Attention  to  every  Part  of  his  duty"  during  the  time  he  had 
commanded  there.443  He  also  refuted  the  charge  of  Whistler's 
enemies  that  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  raising  large  quanti- 
ties of  corn.  Kingsbury,  Whistler's  immediate  superior,  also 
testified  to  his  belief  in  his  integrity,  and  in  the  falsity  of  the 
charges  against  him,  and  Varnum,  who  had  been  factor  at  Fort 
Dearborn  from  1805  to  1808,  expressed  approval  of  Whistler's 
conduct  during  that  time.444  In  harmony  with  this  favorable 

«•  Wilson,  Chicago  from  1803  to  1812. 

«•  Drennan  Papers,  Kingsbury  to  Nicoll,  February  15,  1811. 

«•  Kingsbury  Papers,  Heald  to  Kingsbury,  May  31,  1810;  Kingsbury  to  Heald, 
June  ii,  1810. 

««  Kingsbury  Papers,  letter  of  Cooper  to  Kingsbury  cited  in  note  433. 

«« Ibid.,  Heald  to  Kingsbury,  May  31,  1810. 

««  Drennan  Papers,  Kingsbury  to  Nicoll,  February  15,  1811. 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  175 

testimony  are  the  observations  of  William  Johnston,445  who 
journeyed  from  Fort  Wayne  to  Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1809. 
He  recorded  that  Fort  Dearborn  was  "the  neatest  and  best 
wooden  garrison  in  the  United  States,"  a  fact  which  did  "great 
honor  to  Capt.  John  Whistler  who  planned  and  built  it."  The 
observant  visitor  also  records  that  Whistler  had  under  him,  at 
the  time  of  his  visit,  the  same  men  as  when  he  built  the  fort. 
Although  their  term  of  enlistment  had  expired  they  had  all 
re-enlisted — a  sure  sign  that  Whistler  was  a  good  officer. 

The  outcome  of  the  quarrel  was,  on  the  whole,  a  triumph  for 
Whistler's  enemies.  Rather  than  bring  Whistler  and  Thompson 
to  trial  on  the  charges  preferred  against  them,  the  War  Depart- 
ment decided  on  a  general  scattering  of  the  officers  at  Fort 
Dearborn.  In  April,  1810,  Whistler  was  sent  to  Detroit,  and 
Hamilton  to  Fort  Belle  Fontaine.  Captain  Rhea,  whose  company 
at  Detroit  was  given  to  Whistler,  was  sent  to  Fort  Wayne  to 
relieve  Captain  Nathan  Heald,  who,  in  turn,  succeeded  Whistler 
at  Fort  Dearborn.446  Thompson  and  Cooper  remained  at  Fort 
Dearborn,  but  the  latter's  privilege  to  suttle  was  withdrawn  by 
special  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War.447  Jouett  and  Irwin,  the 
Indian  agent  and  the  factor,  remained  at  Fort  Dearborn.  The 
atmosphere  was  now  thoroughly  uncongenial  to  Cooper,  who 
soon  resigned  from  the  army  in  disgust,  being  unwilling  to  remain 
in  a  service  where  one  could  be  so  easily  injured  in  the  opinion 
of  the  heads  of  the  department.448 

Thus  in  gloom  and  defeat  departed  the  man  who,  with  more 
propriety  than  any  other,  may  be  called  the  father  of  Chicago. 
That  he  felt  keenly  the  blow  that  had  been  dealt  him  is  shown 
by  his  letters  to  Kingsbury.449  He  was  old  and  infirm,  his  wife 

«s  "Notes  of  a  Tour  from  Fort  Wayne  to  Chicago,  1809,"  MS  in  Chicago  Historical 
Society  library. 

«'  Kingsbury  Papers,  Kingsbury  to  Irwin,  June  n,  1810;  Drennan  Papers,  Nicoll  to 
Heald,  April  u,  1810;  Nicoll  to  Whistler,  April  n,  1810;  Nicoll  to  Kingsbury,  April  n, 
1810;  Nicoll  to  Gansevoort,  April  12,  1810. 

««*  Drennan  Papers,  Nicoll  to  Whistler,  March  30,  1810. 

"'  Kingsbury  Papers,  letter  of  Cooper  to  Kingsbury  cited  in  note  433.  * 

«'  Kingsbury  Papers,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  May  27,  1810;  Drennan  Papers,  Kings- 
bury  to  Nicoll,  February  15,  1811. 


1 76  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

was  ill,  and  he  had  a  large  family  of  young  children  to  support, 
with  little  property,  and  burdened  with  debt. 

Nathan  Heald,  the  new  commander  at  Fort  Dearborn,  was 
born  at  Ipswich,  New  Hampshire,  in  i775.4S°  He  entered  the 
army  as  an  ensign  in  1799,  serving  continuously  at  various  places 
on  the  frontier  and  in  the  recruiting  service  until  January,  1807, 
when  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain  and  given  command 
at  Fort  Wayne.  That  he  was  chosen  to  succeed  Whistler 
at  Fort  Dearborn  under  the  circumstances  which  have  been 
described  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  an  indication  of  confidence 
on  the  part  of  his  superiors  in  his  ability  and  good  judgment. 
Rhea,  who  succeeded  him  at  Fort  Wayne,  reported  that  he 
found  everything  had  been  going  on  "very  correct"  there,  and 
that  he  intended  to  "take  the  Track  of  Captain  Heald"  as  nearly 
as  possible.451  Rhea  was  much  pleased  with  his  new  post  and 
expressed  the  hope  he  might  continue  there.  Heald,  on  the 
contrary,  was  dissatisfied  with  Fort  Dearborn,  and  at  once 
announced  his  intention  of  spending  the  coming  winter  in 
New  England.452  If  the  necessary  leave  of  absence  were  not 
granted  him  he  would  resign  the  service  rather  than  remain  at 
Fort  Dearborn. 

Unfortunately  for  Heald  the  furlough  was  granted,453  and 
thus  he  returned  to  Chicago  to  participate  in  the  massacre  two 
years  later.  After  spending  the  winter  in  Massachusetts,  Heald 
returned  to  the  West  by  way  of  Pittsburgh  and  the  Ohio  River, 
stopping  at  Louisville  to  marry  Rebekah  Wells,  the  daughter  of 
Colonel  Samuel  Wells  and  the  niece  of  Captain  William  Wells, 
with  whom  Heald  had  long  been  associated  at  Fort  Wayne.454 
The  wedding  occurred  on  May  23,  1811,  and  in  June  the  com- 

«« Nathan  Heald's  Journal  printed  as  Appendix  III.  The  original  is  among  the 
Heald  papers  in  the  Draper  Collection. 

««'  Kingsbury  Papers,  Rhea  to  Kingsbury,  May  17,  1810. 

•s*  Ibid.,  Heald  to  Kingsbury,  June  8,  1810. 

«sj  Heald's  Journal;  Kingsbury  Papers,  Heald  to  Kingsbury,  December  31,  i8iof 
and  May  i,  i3n;  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  88. 

'"  Heald's  Journal;  Darius  Heald's  narrative  of  the  Chicago  massacre,  in  Magazine 
of  American  History,  XXVIII,  114- 


NINE  YEARS  OF  GARRISON  LIFE  177 

mander  reached  Chicago  with  his  bride,  after  an  absence  of  seven 
months.  The  bridal  journey  was  made  from  Louisville  to 
Chicago  on  horseback  through  the  wilderness  which  lay  between 
the  two  places.  Mrs.  Heald's  slave  girl,  Cicely,  accompanied 
them  on  their  journey,  and  was  an  inmate  of  Fort  Dearborn 
from  this  time  until  the  massacre  the  following  year.  The 
statement  preserved  in  the  Heald  family  chronicle  that  the  bridal 
party  was  received  by  the  garrison  with  all  the  honors  of  war 
may  well  be  believed,  for  the  addition  of  a  woman  like  Mrs. 
Heald  to  the  garrison  circle  was  an  event  of  rare  interest  in  the 
life  of  the  little  community. 

In  March,  1811,  George  Ronan,  a  young  cadet  direct  from 
West  Point,  was  given  the  rank  of  ensign  and  ordered  to  repair 
at  once  to  Fort  Dearborn.455  On  the  fourth  of  the  same  month 
Lieutenant  Thompson  died.  With  him  the  last  military  officer 
involved  in  the  quarrel  of  the  preceding  year  disappeared  from 
Fort  Dearborn.  Three  months  later  his  place  was  filled  by  the 
transfer  of  Lieutenant  Linai  T.  Helm  from  Detroit  to  Fort 
Dearborn.  The  transfer  was  made  at  Helm's  own  request,  the 
reasons  for  his  desiring  it  being,  apparently,  his  straitened 
financial  circumstances  and  the  cheaper  cost  of  living  at  Fort 
Dearborn  as  compared  with  Detroit.456  During  the  summer  the 
place  made  vacant  by  Doctor  Cooper's  resignation  was  filled  by 
the  appointment  of  Isaac  Van  Voorhis,  like  Cooper  a  native  of 
Fishkill,  New  York,  born  a  few  years  after  his  predecessor,  but 
a  member  of  the  same  class  in  college.457  The  officers  of  Fort 
Dearborn  were  now  the  same  as  on  the  fatal  day  of  evacuation, 
August  15,  1812. 

««  Drennan  Papers,  Nicoll  to  Ronan,  March  27,  1811;  Nicoll  to  Heald,  March  27, 
1811;  Heitman,  Dictionary  of  the  United  States  Army,  I,  844. 

«« Drennan  Papers,  Kingsbury  to  Nicoll,  April  18,  1811;  Nicoll  to  Kingsbury,  May  24, 
1811;  Kingsbury  Papers,  Helm  to  Kingsbury,  March  16,  1811. 

457  Van  Voorhis,  Notes  on  the  Ancestry  of  Wm.  Roe  Van  Voorhis,  143. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA 

Meanwhile  time  and  the  fates  were  weaving  a  fatal  web  about 
the  almost  defenseless  frontier.  The  western  Indians,  awed  into 
submission  for  a  time  by  the  masterful  hand  of  Wayne,  were 
again  stirred  by  a  great  unrest.  There  were,  among  others,  three 
important  causes  for  this  condition :  the  rapid  occupation  of  their 
hunting-grounds  and  the  deterioration  of  the  natives  by  contact 
with  civilization;  the  steadily  increasing  influence  of  the  British, 
to  secure  advantages  in  trade  or  help  in  case  of  war;  and 
finally,  a  patriotic  movement  toward  race  unity  among  the 
Indians  themselves,  which  had  for  its  object  a  revival  of  the 
older  and  happier  existence  of  their  forefathers.  This  movement 
was  full  of  danger  for  the  West  and  of  hope  for  the  British. 

In  the  first  place,  the  red  and  white  races  were  totally  differ- 
ent in  physical  habits  and  in  processes  of  thought  by  which 
perceptions  become  opinions.  The  Indian  had  an  incomplete 
and  indefinite  notion  of  a  treaty  when  he  signed  it,  and  was 
utterly  unable  to  comprehend  its  final  effect;  the  white  man 
exacted  to  the  utmost  all  possible  advantages  from  these  agree- 
ments. The  ideas  of  the  two  races  with  respect  to  the  ownership 
and  transmission  of  title  to  land  differed  markedly.  The  white 
man  appeased  his  omnipresent  land  hunger  by  inducing  repre- 
sentatives of  the  tribes  to  make  a  cession,  usually  for  a  paltry 
consideration,  of  the  land  which  was  at  the  moment  desired. 
The  usual  method  of  procuring  such  cessions  was  to  call  the 
leaders  of  the  tribe  affected  together  in  solemn  conclave,  where 
they  were  plied  with  whisky  and  cajolery,  and  by  alternate 
threats  and  appeals  to  their  cupidity  the  bargain  was  extorted 
from  them.458  If  the  government  did  not  itself  directly  supply 

«'  For  an  excellent  description  of  the  scenes  attending  a  typical  treaty  see  Latrobe, 
Rambler  in  North  America,  II,  chap.  xi. 


THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA  179 

the  liquor  which  befuddled  the  brain  and  weakened  the  will  of  the 
red  man,  it  was  at  least  guilty  of  permitting  its  subjects  to  do 
so.459  How  the  transaction  appeared  to  the  Indian,  when  he  had 
had  time  to  reflect  upon  it,  is  well  shown  by  an  appeal  of  the 
Wyandot  tribe  in  1812  to  be  allowed  to  retain  possession  of  the 
lands  they  were  then  cultivating,  which  had  been  ceded  to  the 
United  States  by  a  prior  treaty.  Their  description  of  the  process 
of  obtaining  cessions  from  the  tribes  can  scarcely  be  improved 
upon  for  clarity  and  succinctness.  "When  the  United  States 
want  a  particular  piece  of  land,  all  our  natives  are  assembled;  a 
large  sum  of  loney  is  offered;  the  land  is  occupied  probably  by 
one  nation  only;  nine-tenths  have  no  actual  interest  in  the  land 
wanted;  if  the  particular  nation  interested  refuses  to  sell,  they 
are  generally  threatened  by  the  others,  who  want  the  money  or 
goods  offered  to  buy  whisky.  Fathers,  this  is  the  way  in  which 
this  small  spot,  which  we  so  much  value,  has  been  so  often  torn 
from  us."460 

Thus  the  land  hunger  of  the  white  man  and  the  discord  pro- 
duced by  the  operation  of  two  totally  divergent  conceptions  of 
land  ownership  and  alienation  furnished  the  basis  for  a  conflict 
between  the  two  races  which  was  probably  inevitable  under  any 
circumstances.  To  the  shame  of  the  more  enlightened  race,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  said  that  its  relations  with  its  less  civilized 
neighbor  were  marked  by  a  policy  of  persistent  abuse  and  a  dis- 
regard of  justice  and  treaty  obligations  which  operated  time  and 
again  to  goad  the  red  man  into  impotent  warfare,  and  this,  in 
turn,  became  the  excuse  for  further  spoliation.  No  government 
ever  entertained  more  enlightened  and  benevolent  intentions 
toward  a  weaker  people  than  did  that  of  the  United  States  toward 
the  Indian,  but  never  in  history,  probably,  has  a  more  striking 
divergence  between  intention  and  performance  been  witnessed. 

«» There  is  practically  no  limit  to  the  number  of  sources  which  might  be  cited  in  support 
of  this  statement.  See  for  example  Latrobe,  op.  cit.,  II,  chap.  xi.  At  the  second  Treaty  of 
Greenville,  July,  1814,  the  government  agents  seem  to  have  deliberately  adopted  the  policy 
of  intoxicating  the  Indians  in  order  to  bend  them  to  their  wishes  (Dillon,  "The  National 
Decline  of  the  Miami  Indians,"  in  Indiana  Historical  Society,  Publications,  I,  136-37). 

««•  A  merican  State  Papers,  Indian  A  fairs,  I,  795-96. 


i8o  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  failure  was  due  partly  to  ignorance,  but  also,  in  large  part 
at  least,  to  the  inability  or  unwillingness  of  the  government  to 
restrain  its  lawless  subjects,  who,  filled  with  an  insatiable  cupidity 
and  animated  by  a  wanton  disregard  of  justice,  hesitated  at  no 
means  to  possess  themselves  of  the  land  and  other  property  of  the 
Indians. 

The  truth  of  these  statements  is  so  notorious  as  scarcely  to 
require  demonstration,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  with  the 
passing  of  the  relations  that  prevailed  between  the  two  races  on 
the  frontier  a  century  ago  our  knowledge  of  them  threatens  to 
disappear.  Almost  any  number  of  witnesses  of  unimpeachable 
authority  might  be  cited  to  show  the  unjust  administration  of  the 
regulations  governing  the  intercourse  between  the  two  races. 
Said  Hamtramck  to  St.  Clair  in  1790 :  "The  people  of  our  frontiers 
will  be  the  first  to  break  any  treaty.  The  people  of  Kentucky 
will  carry  on  private  expeditions  and  will  kill  Indians  whenever 
they  meet  them,  and  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  jury  in  all  Ken- 
tucky who  would  punish  a  man  for  it."461  This  opinion  was 
substantially  repeated  by  Washington,  who  affirmed  that  the 
"frontier  settlers  entertain  the  opinion  that  there  is  not  the  same 
crime  (or  indeed  no  crime  at  all)  in  killing  an  Indian  as  in  killing 
a  white  man."462 

No  man  understood  better  the  conditions  that  prevailed  on 
the  northwestern  frontier  than  did  General  Harrison.  His  let- 
ters and  messages  abound  in  accounts  of  acts  of  violence  and 
other  crimes  committed  against  the  Indians,  and  of  the  impossi- 
bility of  obtaining  justice  for  them.  By  the  treaties  the  Indians 
guilty  of  murder  were  to  be  surrendered  to  the  whites,  and  what- 
ever the  form  of  trial  were  practically  certain  of  punishment, 
while,  as  Hamtramck  observed,  western  juries  almost  invariably 
acquitted  white  men  guilty  of  the  same  offense.  "The  Indian 
always  suffers,  and  the  white  man  never,"  said  Harrison  to  the 
Indiana  legislature  in  1806,  in  a  message  appealing  for  a  redress 
of  this  grievance.463  A  year  later,  in  discussing  the  subject  of 

«••  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  421. 

«*•  Ibid.  *"'  Dillon,  History  of  Indiana,  424. 


THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA  181 

Indian  unrest,  the  Governor  returned  to  the  same  theme, 
expressing  the  opinion  that  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  British 
to  incite  the  Indians  to  make  war  upon  the  Americans  would 
be  unavailing  "if  one  only  of  the  many  persons  who  have 
committed  murders  on  their  people,  could  be  brought  to 
punishment."464  It  had  even  come  to  pass  from  the  partiality 
shown  the  whites  in  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  that  the 
Indians  proudly  compared  their  own  observance  of  the  treaty 
stipulations  with  that  of  their  boasted  superiors.465 

An  event  reported  by  General  Harrison  in  1802  well  illustrates 
the  workings  of  the  prejudice  which  rendered  persons  guilty  of 
acts  of  violence  against  the  Indians  immune  from  punishment.466 
An  Indian  was  barbarously  murdered  by  a  white  man.  The 
offender  was  a  man  of  infamous  character  for  whom  no  sympathy 
was  felt,  and  the  evidence  of  guilt  was  incontestable.  Yet  the 
jury,  in  obedience  to  the  sentiment  that  no  white  man  ought  to 
suffer  for  the  murder  of  an  Indian,  in  a  few  minutes  brought  in 
a  verdict  of  acquittal.  A  case  which  attracted  a  good  deal  of 
attention  and  served  to  embitter  the  minds  of  the  Indians 
occurred  about  the  beginning  of  the  century.  An  entire  party 
consisting  of  several  persons,  men,  women,  and  children,  was 
foully  murdered  by  three  white  villains  for  the  sake  of  a  paltry 
fifty  dollars'  worth  of  peltry  which  they  owned.  The  murder 
was  revealed  through  the  boasting  of  the  murderers  themselves. 
Governor  Harrison  made  strenuous  efforts  to  secure  their  punish- 
ment, but  because  of  the  active  sentiment  against  punishing  white 
men  for  killing  Indians  these  were  rendered  of  no  avail.467  In  a 
similar  manner  in  1812  a  trader  who  had  killed  an  Indian  at  Vin- 
cennes  was  acquitted  by  the  jury  almost  without  deliberation.468 

«'<  Dawson,  Historical  Narrative  of  the  Civil  and  Military  Services  of  Major-General 
William  H.  Harrison,  97. 

<*»  Governor  Harrison  to  the  Indiana  legislature,  printed  in  Dillon,  History  of  Indiana, 
424.  In  a  letter  to  Harrison  from  the  War  Department  (unsigned),  July  17,  1806,  relative 
to  the  murder  of  an  Indian  occurs  the  following:  "It  is  excessively  mortifying  that  our 
good  faith  should  so  frequently  be  called  in  question  by  the  natives  who  have  it  in  their 
power  to  make  such  proud  comparison  in  relation  to  good  faith." — Indian  Office,  Letter 
Book  B,  240. 

«"  Dawson,  Harrison,  45.  ««*  Ibid.,  7-8,  31-32. 

«"  Drake,  Life  of  Tecumseh,  134. 


1 82  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Shortly  after  this  the  house  of  a  white  man  was  robbed  by  a 
Delaware  Indian.  To  the  demand  that  the  culprit  be  given  up 
for  trial  the  chiefs  of  the  tribe  replied  that  they  would  never  sur- 
render another  man  until  some  of  the  white  murderers  of  their 
own  people  had  been  punished;  they  would,  however,  punish  him 
themselves,  and  this  promise  they  kept  by  putting  him  to  death.469 
Another  illustration  of  the  sense  of  injustice  felt  by  the  Indians 
over  the  one-sided  administration  of  justice  as  between  the  two 
races,  is  afforded  by  the  spirited  speech  of  Main  Poc,  the  Potta- 
watomie  chief  who  lived  near  the  junction  of  the  Des  Plaines  and 
the  Kankakee  rivers,  to  the  agent  of  Governor  Edwards  in  1811. 
To  the  latter's  demand  for  the  surrender  of  certain  red  men 
accused  of  committing  murders  among  the  whites  Main  Poc 
replied:  "You  astonish  us  with  your  talk.  When  you  do  us 
harm  nothing  is  done,  but  when  we  do  anything  you  immediately 
tie  us  by  the  neck."470 

Thus  to  the  native  mind  there  were  two  kinds  of  justice,  one 
red  and  the  other  white,  and  moreover  the  red  man  was  keen 
enough  to  observe  that  most  of  the  faults  for  which  he  was  visited 
with  punishment  had  been  learned  from  the  palefaces.  In  par- 
ticular the  white  man's  fire-water  had  for  him  a  fatal  fascination, 
leading  him  into  depths  of  degradation  and  crime  which  beggar 
description.  There  is  no  more  mournful  picture  in  English 
literature  than  that  of  the  steady  destruction  of  the  Indian  race 
by  this  poison  dealt  out  to  the  red  man  by  the  white  trader  for 
the  sake  of  paltry  gain.  The  efforts  of  Catholic  and  Protestant 
missionaries,  and  of  the  governments  of  France,  Great  Britain, 
and  the  United  States  to  suppress  the  accursed  traffic  were  all 
alike  in  vain.  The  narratives  of  travelers  and  the  letters  and 
reports  of  government  officials  abound  in  portrayals  of  shocking 
scenes  of  debauchery  indulged  in  by  the  Indians  while  under  the 
influence  of  liquor.471  "  I  have  witnessed  the  evils  caused  by  that 

<«»  Dawson,  Harrison,  178.  ««  Edwards,  Life  of  Ninian  Edwards,  49. 

<"  For  examples  see  Volney,  View  of  the  Soil  and  Climate  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
354;  Latrobe,  Rambler  in  North  America,  II,  chap,  xi;  Keating,  Narrative  of  an  Expedition 
to  the  Sources  of  the  St.  Peter's  River,  I,  124-27;  Charlevoix,  Letters  to  the  Duchess  of 
Lesdiguieres,  228-29;  and  citations  collected  by  Dillon,  in  Indiana  Historical  Society,  Pub- 
lications, I,  131-38. 


THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA  183 

liquor  among  the  Indians,"  wrote  Denonville,  governor  of  New 
France,  in  an  official  memoir  in  i69o.472  "It  is  the  horror  of 
horrors.  There  is  no  crime  nor  infamy  they  do  not  perpetrate  in 
their  excesses.  A  mother  throws  her  child  into  the  fire;  noses 
are  bitten  off;  this  is  a  frequent  occurrence.  It  is  another  Hell 
among  them  during  these  orgies,  which  must  be  seen  to  be 

credited Those  who  allege  that  the  Indians  will  remove 

to  the  English,  if  Brandy  be  not  furnished  them  do  not  tell  the 
truth;  for  it  is  a  fact  that  they  do  not  care  about  drinking  as  long 
as  they  do  not  see  brandy;  and  the  most  reasonable  would  wish 
there  had  never  been  any  such  thing;  for  they  set  their  entrails 
on  fire  and  beggar  themselves  by  giving  their  peltries  and 
clothes  for  drink."  "This  passion  for  drink,"  said  General  Cass 
to  the  chief,  Metea,  at  the  Chicago  Treaty  of  1821,  "has  injured 
your  nation  more  than  any  other  thing— more  than  all  the  other 
causes  put  together.  It  is  not  a  long  period  since  you  were  a 
powerful  independent  tribe — now,  you  are  reduced  to  a  handful, 
and  it  is  all  owing  to  ardent  spirits."473  And  Governor  Harrison, 
pleading  for  a  law  to  protect  the  Indians  against  the  liquor  traffic, 
thus  addressed  the  Indiana  legislature  in  1805:  "You  are 
witnesses  to  the  abuses;  you  have  seen  our  towns  crowded  with 
furious  and  drunken  savages,  our  streets  flowing  with  their  blood, 
their  arms  and  clothing  bartered  for  the  liquor  that  destroys 
them,  and  their  miserable  women  and  children  enduring  all  the 
extremities  of  cold  and  hunger.  So  destructive  has  the  progress 
of  intemperance  been  among  them,  that  whole  villages  have  been 
swept  away.  A  miserable  remnant  is  all  that  remains  to  mark 
the  names  and  situation  of  many  numerous  and  warlike  tribes. 
In  the  energetic  language  of  one  of  their  orators,  it  is  a  dreadful 
conflagration,  which  spreads  misery  and  desolation  through  their 
country,  and  threatens  the  annihilation  of  the  whole  race."474 

At  an  earlier  date  than  the  foregoing,  in  an  official  communi- 
cation to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Harrison  described  the  general 

«i«  O'Callaghan,  New  York  Colonial  Documents,  IX,  441. 

<»  Schoolcraft,  Travels  in  the  Central  Portions  o  the  Mississippi  Valley,  351. 

4"  Dawson,  Harrison,  73. 


1 84  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

effect  upon  the  Indians  of  their  intercourse  with  the  whites  in 
these  words: 

"Killing  each  other  has  become  so  customary  amongst  them 
that  it  is  no  longer  thought  criminal.  They  murder  those  whom 
they  have  been  most  accustomed  to  esteem  and  regard — their 
chiefs  and  their  nearest  relatives  fall  under  the  stroke  of  their 
tomahawks  and  their  knives All  those  horrors  are  pro- 
duced to  those  unhappy  people  by  their  too  frequent  intercourse 
with  the  white  people.  This  is  so  certain  that  I  can  at  once  tell, 
upon  looking  at  an  Indian  whom  I  chance  to  meet,  whether  he 
belongs  to  a  neighboring,  or  to  a  more  distant  tribe.  The  latter 
is  generally  well  clothed,  healthy,  and  vigorous;  the  former,  half- 
naked,  filthy,  and  enfeebled  by  intoxication;  and  many  of  them 
without  arms,  except  a  knife,  which  they  carry  for  the  most 
villanous  purposes."475 

The  red  men  were  not  unconscious  of  the  evils  of  intemper- 
ance, and  often  made  pathetic  appeals  to  the  whites  to  protect 
them  from  temptation.  "  The  Indian  Chiefs  complain  heavily  of 
the  mischiefs  produced  by  the  enormous  quantities  of  whisky 
which  the  traders  introduce  into  their  country,"  wrote  Harrison 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  in  i8oi.476  In  1810  the  Fox  nation 
requested  General  Clark,  Indian  agent  at  St.  Louis,  to  prevent 
whisky  from  coming  among  them  as  it  made  them  "verry 
poor."477  In  a  speech  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  in 
1802  Little  Turtle  dwelt  on  the  demoralization  wrought  among 
his  people  by  liquor,  and  urged  that  its  sale  be  prohibited. 
"Your  children  are  not  wanting  in  industry,"  he  said,  "but  it  is 
the  introduction  of  this  fatal  poison  which  keeps  them  poor. 
Your  children  have  not  that  command  of  themselves  which  you 
have,  therefore,  before  anything  can  be  done  to  advantage,  this 
evil  must  be  remedied."478 

«"  Dawson,  Harrison,  10-11. 
ntlM*. 

«"  Edwards  Papers,  MSS  in  Chicago  Historical  Society  library,  L,  77;  Maurice 
Blondeau  to  Clark,  August  25,  1810. 

«»• American  Stale  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  655. 


THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA  185 

The  conditions  which  were  working  the  ruin  of  the  tribes  were 
borne  by  the  Indians  with  astonishing  patience.479  "They  will 
never  have  recourse  to  arms,"  said  Harrison  in  1806,  "unless 
driven  to  it  by  a  series  of  injustice  and  oppression."480  Yet 
often  there  were  pathetic  protests.  "I  had  not  discovered," 
wrote  Black  Hawk  of  the  spring  of  1812,  "one  good  trait  in  the 
character  of  the  Americans  that  had  come  to  the  country.  They 

made  fair  promises,  but  never  fulfilled  them Why  did  the 

Great  Spirit  ever  send  the  whites  to  this  island  to  drive  us  from 
our  homes,  and  introduce  among  us  poisonous  liquors,  disease, 
and  death?"481 

With  the  government  demanding  more  lands  and  the  advan- 
cing line  of  white  settlement  pressing  ever  forward,  the  game  upon 
which  the  Indians  subsisted  became  scarcer,  and  many  of  the 
tribes  were  reduced  to  destitution.  Then  came  the  remarkable 
attempt  of  Tecumseh,  the  Indian  Moses,  and  his  brother,  the 
Prophet,  to  rescue  their  people  from  the  impending  doom.  The 
story  of  Tecumseh,  the  greatest  man  of  the  native  race,  begins 
with  the  birth  of  three  boys  to  the  Cherokee  squaw  of  a  Shawnee 
warrior  about  the  year  1770,  in  an  obscure  village  near  the 
present  site  of  Springfield,  Ohio.482  In  the  nature  of  things  not 
much  can  be  known  with  certainty  of  his  earlier  years.  His 
brother,  the  Prophet,  has  spun  a  fanciful  tale  of  his  descent  from 
the  union  of  a  Creek  warrior  with  the  daughter  of  one  of  the 
colonial  governors,  but  both  this  and  the  stories  of  his  youthful 
precocity  and  prowess  may  be  regarded  with  equal  suspicion.  In 
the  same  light  must  we  view  the  story  of  the  effect  produced  upon 
Tecumseh  by  the  first  spectacle,  for  him,  of  the  burning  of  a 
prisoner,  and  his  persuading  his  associates  to  abandon  the 
custom,483  though  it  is  true  his  later  career  was  marked  by  a 
humanity  toward  the  vanquished  foe  quite  unusual  in  an  Indian. 

«'»  Statement  of  Harrison  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  July  15,  1801,  Dawson,  Harrison,  9. 

«••  Dillon,  History  of  Indiana,  423. 

""  Black  Hawk,  Life,  34-35. 

««'  Drake,  Tecumseh,  chaps,  i  and  ii. 

««'  Ibid.,  68-69. 


1 86  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  young  warrior  doubtless  participated  in  various  warlike 
forays  during  the  stormy  years  prior  to  Wayne's  victory  at  Fallen 
Timbers  in  1794.  He  fought  in  that  battle,  but  refrained  from 
attending  the  council  which  resulted  in  the  Treaty  of  Green- 
ville.484 During  the  next  few  years  he  assumed  the  dignity  of  a 
chief  and  gradually  attracted  to  himself  a  considerable  following. 
Before  long  his  fame  as  an  orator  and  a  man  of  influence  among 
his  fellows  had  spread  even  to  the  white  settlers.  In  1805  several 
scattered  bands  of  the  Shawnee  tribe,  Tecumseh's  among  the 
number,  united  and  settled  at  Greenville,  where  Tecumseh's 
brother  began  the  career  which  has  caused  him  to  be  known  in 
history  as  the  "Prophet." 

Tecumseh  was  always  an  enemy  of  the  Americans,  but  he 
based  his  enmity  upon  the  losses  and  ills  suffered  by  his  people. 
Evidently  the  Great  Spirit  was  angry  with  his  red  children,  for 
they  were  being  driven  from  their  hunting-grounds,  were  losing 
their  health  and  vigor,  and  sinking  into  the  lowest  depths  of 
poverty  and  depravity.  For  all  these  evils  there  were  two 
remedies;  the  first  to  recover  the  lost  hunting-grounds,  the  sec- 
ond to  reform  the  conduct  of  the  warriors;  and  no  European 
statesman  ever  faced  an  impossible  task  with  greater  courage  or 
used  his  resources  with  greater  skill  than  did  Tecumseh. 

The  leading  role  was  taken  for  some  time  by  Tecumseh's 
brother  the  Prophet,  who  now  took  upon  himself  the  name 
Tenskwautawau,  meaning  the  "Open  Door,"  signifying  that  he 
would  point  out  to  the  Indians  the  new  mode  of  life  they  should 
pursue.485  From  the  village  of  the  assembled  bands  near 
Greenville  was  sent  out  far  and  wide  to  the  tribes  in  the  year 
1806  this  revelation  by  the  Prophet  of  the  will  of  the  Great 
Spirit:  "I  am  the  father  of  the  English,  of  the  French,  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  of  the  Indians.  I  created  the  first  man,  who  was 
the  common  father  of  all  these  people,  as  well  as  yourselves;  and 
it  is  through  him,  whom  I  have  awaked  from  his  long  sleep,  that 
I  now  address  you.  But  the  Americans  I  did  not  make.  They  are 
not  my  children,  but  the  children  of  the  evil  spirit.  They  grew  from 

«•«  Drake,  Tecumseh,  81-83.  «•«  Ibid.,  86. 


THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA  187 

the  scum  of  the  great  water  where  it  was  troubled  by  the  evil 
spirit,  and  the  froth  was  driven  into  the  woods  by  a  strong  east 

wind.  They  are  numerous,  but  I  hate  them I  am  now 

on  the  earth,  sent  by  the  Great  Spirit  to  instruct  you.  Each 
village  must  send  me  two  or  more  principal  chiefs  to  represent 

you,  that  you  may  be  taught Those  villages  which  do  not 

listen  to  this  talk,  and  send  me  two  deputies,  will  be  cut  off  from 
the  face  of  the  earth."486 

A  religious  enthusiasm  was  thus  enkindled  which  soon 
developed  into  a  frenzy.  The  Prophet's  teachings  in  the  main 
were  sound,  from  the  red  man's  point  of  view,  but  they  were 
attended  by  the  excesses  inevitable  to  such  a  movement.487 
Witchcraft,  drunkenness,  and  intermarriage  with  the  whites 
were  declared  against,  and  community  of  property,  respect  for 
the  aged  and  infirm,  and  adherence  to  the  native  dress  and 
customs  were  advocated.  To  all  who  would  adopt  these  precepts 
the  recovery  of  the  comforts  and  happiness  enjoyed  by  their  fore- 
fathers before  they  were  debased  by  their  connection  with  the 
whites  was  promised.  Among  the  first  manifestations  of  the 
influence  of  the  new  teachings  was  the  outbreak  of  a  witchcraft 
delusion,  similar  in  all  essential  respects  to  that  in  Massachusetts 
in  1692. 488  Under  the  influence  of  torture  those  accused  confessed 
the  possession  of  supernatural  powers,  and  to  aerial  journeyings  by 
night;  but  where  staid  and  civilized  Salem  had  been  content  to 
hang  her  victims,  the  untutored  red  man  burned  his  at  the  stake. 

This  delusion  was  soon  ended,  partly  by  the  good  sense  of  the 
Indians  reasserting  itself,  partly  through  the  influence  of  Gover- 
nor Harrison,  who  sent  a  ringing  protest  against  it.489  But  the 
influence  of  the  Prophet  continued  to  wax,  and  by  the  summer  of 
1807  hundreds  of  Indians  from  far  and  near  had  come  to  visit  him 
and  to  listen  to  his  instruction.490  The  British,  who  feared  an 

«« American  State  Papers,  Indian  Ajfairs,  I,  798. 

"  For  a  statement  of  the  Prophet's  teachings  at  this  time  see  Drake,  Tecumseh,  87-88. 
»•  Ibid.,  88-80;  Dawson,  Harrison,  82-83. 
•»  Dawson,  Harrison,  83-84. 

»«  Captain  Wells  at  Fort  Wayne  estimated  that  up  to  May  25,  1807,  fifteen  hundred 
Indians  had  passed  that  point  going  to  visit  the  Prophet  (Dawson,  Harrison,  91). 


1 88  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

outbreak  of  war  and  an  invasion  of  Canada  by  the  Americans 
following  the  Chesapeake  affair  of  1807,  sought  to  foster  the 
excitement  and  to  turn  it  to  their  own  ends  by  attaching  the 
Indians  to  their  cause  in  the  impending  conflict.  Messengers 
were  sent  to  all  the  tribes  to  summon  them  to  Maiden,491  where 
for  years  presents  of  guns,  ammunition,  and  other  supplies  had 
been  distributed  to  the  Indians  with  a  prodigal  hand.492  Hull  at 
Detroit  did  his  best  to  counteract  the  effect  of  the  meetings  at 
Maiden,  but  with  indifferent  success.493  The  British  urged  the 
Indians  to  join  actively  in  the  expected  war  with  the  Americans. 
Hull,  on  the  other  hand,  tried  to  win  them  to  a  policy  of  neu- 
trality, a  role  entirely  foreign  to  their  savage  nature.  Many  of 
them  stopped  at  Detroit  on  their  return  from  Maiden,  and 
showed  great  readiness  in  inventing  excuses  for  their  conduct. 
"When  you  first  sent  for  us,"  said  one,  "we  immediately  pre- 
pared to  come  to  see  you.  Captain  McKee  prevented  us  from 
coming  then;  he  renewed  his  promise  of  presents  to  us,  and  gave 
us  a  keg  of  spirits ;  that  fatal  keg  stopped  us.  We  were  stopped 
a  second  and  a  third  time;  at  last,  without  his  knowledge,  we 
crossed  the  river.  We  are  now  happy  on  your  shore  and  safe 
under  your  protection."494 

Meanwhile  Tecumseh's  plans  steadily  developed.  In  June, 
1809,  he  established  himself  with  his  brother,  the  Prophet,  and  a 
considerable  number  of  warriors  gathered  from  various  tribes  on 
the  "Great  Clearing,"  where  Tippecanoe  Creek  empties  into  the 
Wabash.495  For  three  years  this  town  was  the  center  of  Indian 
intrigue  and  turbulence  in  the  Northwest.  One  hundred  miles  to 
the  northwest  was  Fort  Dearborn;  about  the  same  distance  to 
the  northeast  Fort  Wayne  guarded  the  approach  to  the  Maumee ; 

««  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  44-45,  47-48;  American  Slate  Papers,  Indian 
Affairs,  1,  797  ff. 

«w  For  a  description  by  a  British  partisan  of  the  distribution  of  goods  to  the  Indians  at 
Maiden,  see  Weld,  Travels  through  the  States  of  North  America,  II,  Letter  34. 

<«3  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  745-46;  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections, 
VIII,  568-71. 

<«  American  Stale  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  745. 
"s  Dawson,  Harrison,  106-7. 


THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA  189 

while  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  south  Vincennes  pro- 
tected the  Illinois  frontier.  The  new  Indian  town  occupied  the 
center  of  the  triangle  formed  by  these  three  posts.  Here  was 
to  be  worked  out,  for  weal  or  woe,  the  great  experiment  on  the 
outcome  of  which  depended  the  future  of  the  red  race.  That 
Tecumseh's  was  the  master  mind  which  guided  the  enterprise 
cannot  be  doubted,  although  he  made  clever  use  of  the  influence 
wielded  by  his  brother,  and  at  times  seemed  to  shrink  into  the 
background  in  comparison  with  the  latter.  Here  at  Tippecanoe 
the  Indians  proceeded  to  exemplify  the  Prophet's  teachings, 
which  shall  be  given  in  his  own  words. 

''The  Great  Spirit  told  me  to  tell  the  Indians  that  he  had 
made  them  and  made  the  world — that  he  had  placed  them  in  it 
to  do  good,  and  not  evil.  I  told  all  the  redskins  that  the  way 
they  were  in  was  not  good,  and  that  they  ought  to  abandon  it. 
That  we  ought  to  consider  ourselves  as  one  man,  but  we  ought  to 
live  agreeable  to  our  several  customs,  the  red  people  after  their 
mode,  and  the  white  people  after  theirs;  particularly,  that  they 
should  not  drink  whisky,  that  it  was  not  made  for  them,  but  the 
white  people,  who  alone  know  how  to  use  it;  and  that  it  is  the 
cause  of  all  the  mischiefs  which  the  Indians  suffer;  ....  Deter- 
mine to  listen  to  nothing  that  is  bad.  Do  not  take  up  the 
tomahawk,  should  it  be  offered  by  the  British,  or  by  the  Long 
Knives.  Do  not  meddle  with  any  thing  that  does  not  belong  to 
you,  but  mind  your  own  business  and  cultivate  the  ground,  that 
your  women  and  your  children  may  have  enough  to  live  on."496 

The  extent  to  which  this  advice  was  followed  is  astonishing, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  necessitated  a  complete  revolution  in 
the  lives  and  habits  of  the  natives.  The  influence  of  the 
Prophet's  religious  teachings  was  felt  from  Florida  to  Sas- 
katchewan. Most  marvelous  of  all,  the  love  of  liquor  which  had 
been  the  bane  of  the  Indians  from  the  beginning  of  their  inter- 
course with  the  whites  was  for  a  time  completely  exorcised.497 
Seeking  to  test  the  strength  of  the  Prophet's  influence  over  his 

<*  Speech  to  Governor  Harrison,  August,  1808;   Dawson,  Harrison,  108-9. 
«»7  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIX,  322. 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

followers,  Harrison  tempted  them  with  whisky  in  vain.498  Even 
among  the  distant  tribes  to  which  the  Prophet's  emissaries  came, 
drunkenness  and  warfare  fell  into  disfavor.499  The  Ottawas  of 
FArbre  Croche  were  reported  in  1807  to  be  adhering  strictly  to 
the  "Shawney  Prophet's"  advice.  The  whisky  and  rum  of  the 
traders  had  become  a  drug  on  the  market,  not  a  gallon  a  month 
being  purchased.  Even  when  the  white  men  sought  to  tempt 
the  natives  by  urging  liquor  upon  them  as  a  present  they  refused 
it  "with  disdain."500 

The  settlers  on  the  frontier  were  filled  with  apprehensions  of 
danger  from  Tecumseh's  movement,  and  protests  and  appeals  for 
protection  poured  in  upon  Harrison.  Yet  the  brothers  protested 
that  they  had  no  hostile  designs  against  the  Americans.  In  the 
summer  of  1808  the  Prophet  visited  Harrison  at  Vincennes  and 
succeeded  in  convincing  him,  apparently,  that  he  desired  only 
peace  and  the  upbuilding  of  his  race.501  Meanwhile  Tecumseh 
was  conducting  missions  far  and  wide  among  the  Indians,  urging 
upon  them  his  design  of  a  confederation  of  all  the  tribes.  In  the 
famous  Vincennes  Council  of  i8io502  he  frankly  informed  Harri- 
son that  his  purpose  was  to  form  a  combination  of  all  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  surrounding  region,  to  put  a  stop  to  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  whites,  and  to  establish  the  principle  that  the  lands 
should  be  considered  the  common  property  of  all  the  tribes,  never 
to  be  sold  without  the  consent  of  all.  There  was  nothing  original 
in  this,  for  exactly  the  same  design  and  contention  had  been 
advanced  by  the  northwestern  tribes  in  their  general  council  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Detroit  River  in  i786.s°3  The  American 
government  had,  of  course,  ignored  their  pretensions.  Much 
dissatisfaction  was  expressed  by  the  tribes  with  the  treaties  of 
Fort  Mclntosh  and  Fort  Harmar,  subsequent  to  their  enact- 

«s  Drake,  Tecumseh,  107. 

«»» For  evidence  on  this  point  see  Tanner's  Narrative,  155-58;  Wisconsin  Historical 
Collections,  XIX,  322-23. 

»••  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIX,  322-23. 
i"  Dawson,  Harrison,  107-9. 
i"  For  an  account  of  this  council  see  ibid.,  155-59. 
««>  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XI,  467-69. 


THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA  191 

ment,  many  of  them  refusing  to  recognize  the  validity  of  the 
cessions  made  by  these  treaties  until  compelled  thereto  by 
Wayne,  in  1795.  At  the  Treaty  of  Greenville  in  that  year  most 
of  the  northwestern  tribes  were  represented;  but  many  indi- 
viduals belonging  to  them  held  aloof,  and  among  these  Tecumseh 
himself  was  numbered. 

With  the  rapid  advance  of  white  settlement  following  Wayne's 
victory,  new  cessions  of  land  were  from  time  to  time  demanded. 
That  the  red  man  must  go  down  before  this  advancing  tide  of 
invasion  was  inevitable.  That  he  should  struggle  against  his 
impending  fate  was  but  natural.  The  plan  advanced  in  1786 
offered  the  only  prospect  of  even  temporarily  holding  back  the 
whites,  and  this  the  more  far-sighted  among  the  Indians  were 
shrewd  enough  to  perceive.  Harrison  reported  in  1802  the 
existence  among  them  of  an  agreement  that  no  proposition 
relating  to  their  lands  could  be  acceded  to  without  the  consent 
of  all  the  tribes.504  Nevertheless  several  treaties  carrying  large 
cessions  of  land  were  made  during  the  next  few  years.  One  of 
these,  in  particular,  made  by  the  Piankeshaws  and  Delawires  in 
August,  1804,  excited  the  anger  of  the  other  tribes.505  Others 
negotiated  by  Harrison  in  1808  and  1809  again  aroused  them. 
To  an  agent  of  Harrison  Tecumseh  stated,  in  the  summer  of  1810, 
that  the  continuance  of  friendship  with  the  United  States  was 
impossible  unless  the  encroachment  should  cease.506  "The  Great 
Spirit,"  he  said,  "gave  this  great  island  to  his  red  children,  he 
placed  the  whites  on  the  other  side  of  the  big  water;  they  were 
not  contented  with  their  own,  but  came  to  take  ours  from  us. 
They  have  driven  us  from  the  sea  to  the  lakes,  we  can  go  no 
farther."  This  was  repeated  to  Harrison  himself  a  few  weeks 
later  at  the  Council  of  Vincennes,  and  the  determination  was 
proclaimed  to  put  to  death  all  the  chiefs  who  had  been  parties  to 
the  late  treaties,  and  to  take  away  from  the  village  chiefs  the 
management  of  their  tribal  affairs  and  place  it  in  the  hands  of 
the  warriors.507 

s«  Dawson,  Harrison,  19.  »•*  Ibid.,  153. 

s°s  Ibid.,  61-3.  «•'  Ibid.,  155. 


IQ2  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  Council  of  Vincennes  closed  with  an  ultimatum  on  the 
part  of  Tecumseh  that  the  President  must  either  agree  to  give  up 
the  lands  recently  purchased  and  promise  never  to  make  another 
treaty  without  the  consent  of  all  the  tribes,  or  else  prepare  for 
war.  Harrison  agreed  to  transmit  Tecumseh's  demands  to  the 
President,  but  assured  him  there  was  no  probability  of  their 
acceptance;  to  which  the  red  leader's  grim  rejoinder  was  that  in 
that  event  "you  and  I  will  have  to  fight  it  out."  A  year  passed, 
however,  and  war  was  not  yet  begun.  In  1811  another  council 
was  held  between  the  leaders  of  the  rival  races.508  Some  murders 
had  been  committed  in  Illinois  for  which  Harrison  demanded 
satisfaction.  Tecumseh  professed  himself  unable  to  afford  it.  At 
the  same  time  he  informed  the  Governor  that  he  had  succeeded 
in  uniting  the  northern  tribes,  and  at  the  close  of  the  council 
would  set  out  for  the  south  to  bring  the  southern  tribes  also 
into  union. 

Tecumseh  departed  on  his  mission,  but  returned  to  find  his 
hopes  of  realizing  the  red  man's  Utopia  forever  blasted.  The 
settlers  of  Indiana,  frantic  with  fear  of  the  threatened  destruction, 
demanded  that  the  government  take  steps  effectually  to  avert 
it.509  Equipped  at  last  with  an  adequate  military  force,  Harrison 
determined  to  forestall  the  anticipated  blow  by  striking  first. 
The  fight  of  Tippecanoe  followed  in  November,  1811,  and  the 
Prophet's  shrill  battle  song  on  that  field  was  at  once  the  death 
song  to  Indian  unity  and  to  peace  on  the  frontier.  Henceforth, 
if  the  dream  of  Tecumseh  was  to  be  realized,  the  Indians  must, 
as  he  had  threatened,  throw  in  their  lot  with  the  British,  and 
improve  the  opportunity  afforded  by  a  war  between  the  two 
white  nations. 

Thus  the  agitation  fostered  by  Tecumseh  kept  the  north- 
western frontier  in  a  turmoil  for  several  years,  and  constitutes  for 
that  region  the  prelude  to  the  War  of  1812.  At  Chicago  there 
were  no  actual  hostilities  during  this  time,  but  the  Indians  of  this 
vicinity  shared  the  unrest  which  existed  among  their  fellows  on 
the  Wabash.  In  June,  1805,  representatives  from  several  of  the 

s«»  For  an  account  of  this  council  see  ibid.,  182-85. 
5«»  Ibid.,  187-00. 


THE  INDIAN  UTOPIA  193 

northwestern  tribes  journeyed  to  Maiden  to  solicit  the  assistance 
of  their  British  Father  against  the  encroachments  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. Among  the  speakers  were  two  chiefs  from  Chicago,  one  of 
them  the  notorious  Black  Bird  to  whom  Captain  Heald  seven 
years  later  surrendered  the  survivors  of  the  Fort  Dearborn 
massacre.  The  burden  of  their  complaint  was  that  the  Long 
Knives  were  pressing  on  them  so  that  they  deemed  it  time  to  take 
up  the  hatchet.  Both  the  Chicago  chiefs  professed  an  attach- 
ment to  peace  hitherto,  but  seeing  "the  White  Devil  with  his 
mouth  wide  open"  ready  to  take  possession  of  their  lands  by  any 
means  whatever,  they  had  determined  to  join  with  their  fellows 
in  opposition.510 

A  year  later,  in  June,  1806,  a  French  trader  informed  Captain 
Wells  at  Fort  Wayne  that  a  plot  had  been  formed  by  the  Chippe- 
was,  Ottawas,  and  Pottawatomies  to  surprise  Detroit,  Mackinac, 
Fort  Wayne,  and  Chicago.5"  In  1808  Jouett,  the  agent  at 
Chicago,  reported  that  the  neighboring  Indians  were  planning  a 
visit  to  the  Prophet.512  He  feared  that  the  meeting  would  be 
attended  with  serious  consequences,  and  advised  that  it  be  fore- 
stalled by  the  apprehension  of  the  Prophet.  About  this  same 
time  the  followers  of  Main  Poc  made  threatening  demonstra- 
tions at  Fort  Dearborn,  stirred  up,  as  Doctor  Cooper  was  told, 
by  some  act  of  alleged  injustice  on  the  part  of  the  government 
contractor.513 

From  threatened  hostilities  to  the  commission  of  acts  of 
violence  was  a  step  easily  taken.  In  1810  the  Indians  of  Illinois 
committed  a  series  of  depredations  and  murders  along  the 
Mississippi  border.514  In  July  four  white  men  were  killed  near 
Portage  des  Sioux  by  a  band  of  marauding  Indians  engaged  in  a 
horse-stealing  expedition.  Two  of  the  murderers  shortly  took 
refuge  with  the  Prophet.515  Both  Governor  Edwards  and 
Governor  Harrison  endeavored  to  secure  the  surrender  of  the 
offenders,  but  without  success.516  One  of  the  culprits  was 

s'°  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XXIII,  30-42. 

s"  Dawson,  Harrison,  85.  >"  Wilson,  Chicago  from  1803  to  1812. 

s"  Ibid.,  105.  «•«  Edwards,  Life  of  Ninian  Edwards,  37. 

sis  Edwards  Papers,  56-57;   Edwards,  Life  of  Ninian  Edwards,  37. 

s'«  Dawson,  Harrison,  182-84;  Edwards,  Life  of  Ninian  Edwards,  chap.  iii. 


194  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Nuscotnemeg,  who  later  bore  a  prominent  part  in  the  Chicago 
massacre  .SI 7  Main  Poc ,  who  had  made  the  demonstration  against 
Fort  Dearborn  in  1808,  seems  to  have  been  the  most  active 
marauder  during  the  next  few  years.  In  May,  1811,  La  Lime, 
the  interpreter  at  Fort  Dearborn,  reported  that  two  of  Main  Poc's 
brothers  had  been  engaged  in  stealing  horses  from  the  settle- 
ments of  southern  Illinois.518  In  August  Gomo  informed  Gover- 
nor Edwards'  representative  that  Main  Poc  had  gone  to  Detroit 
where  he  would  remain  until  fall.519  The  nature  of  his  mission  is 
revealed  by  a  letter  of  Captain  Wells  the  following  February.520 
He  had  been  stationed  near  Maiden  since  August,  visiting  the 
British  headquarters  there  every  few  days.  He  had  with  him 
one  hundred  and  twenty  warriors,  disposed  in  bands  of  ten  or 
fifteen  each  to  allay  the  suspicion  of  the  Americans,  ready  to  take 
the  warpath  the  moment  hostilities  between  the  British  and 
Americans  should  begin.  Thus  alarming  reports  poured  in  upon 
the  government  from  every  part  of  the  frontier.521  British  agents 
in  Canada  co-operated  with  those  in  the  West  to  secure  the 
allegiance  of  the  Indians,  and  early  in  the  year  1812  attacks  were 
proposed  upon  the  border  settlements  of  Louisiana  and  Illinois.522 
It  was  due  mainly  to  Robert  Dickson,  one  of  the  most  astute  and 
influential  British  traders  in  the  Northwest,  that  these  plans  were 
not  fully  carried  out,  and  that  the  hostile  bands  were  transferred 
to  the  territory  about  Detroit  and  the  Canadian  frontier.523 
The  Americans  urged  upon  the  Indians  a  policy  of  neutrality  in 
the  impending  war  between  the  whites,524  while  the  British,  with 
greater  success,  sought  to  enlist  them  actively  in  their  support. 
The  opening  of  the  year  1812  found  the  Indians  only  awaiting 
the  co-operation  of  the  British  to  devastate  the  frontier  with 
blood  and  slaughter. 

1  Edwards  Papers,  57;  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  320. 
1  Kirkland,  Chicago  Massacre,  187;  Edwards,  Life  of  Ninian  Edwards,  286-87. 
Edwards,  Life  of  Ninian  Edwards,  39. 
•  American  Slate  Papers,  Indian  Ajfairs,  I,  805. 
1  For  further  examples  see  ibid.,  797-811. 
i"  Edwards  Papers;  Edwards,  Life  of  Ninian  Edwards,  passim. 
s"  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  Vol.  XV,  passim;  Black  Hawk,  Life,  30-35. 
»«  Black  Hawk,  Life,  34  ff;  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  196-98;  Edwards,  Life 
of  Ninian  Edwards,  57. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR 

The  indecisive  outcome  of  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  seemed  to 
necessitate  the  continuation  of  the  war  which  Harrison's  cam- 
paign had  precipitated.  But  Tecumseh's  plans  were  not  yet 
matured,  and  his  British  advisers  steadily  warned  him  against 
the  mistake  of  making  a  premature  beginning  of  the  struggle 
with  the  Americans,  which  would  permit  them  to  crush  the 
Indians  before  the  British  should  be  ready  to  come  to  their  assist- 
ance. He  chose,  therefore,  to  make  light  of  the  affair  at  Tippe- 
canoe, and  continued  to  protest  that  there  would  be  no  war  with 
the  Americans  unless  they  themselves  forced  it.525  One  thing 
had,  however,  been  rendered  certain  by  the  Tippecanoe  campaign : 
sooner  or  later  the  Americans  must  renew  the  attack  upon  the 
Indians;  and  a  war  with  the  British  would  bring  an  Indian  war 
also  upon  the  Northwest. 

Finally  after  long  debate  the  country  blundered  hesitantly 
and  half-heartedly  into  the  War  of  1812.  The  people  of  New 
England  were  so  bitterly  opposed  to  this  step,  and  to  the  party  in 
power,  as  to  give  rise  to  suspicion  of  their  loyalty  to  the  Union. 
The  middle  and  southern  states  were,  on  the  whole,  favorably 
disposed  toward  the  war.  But  in  no  other  section  were  the 
people  as  eager  for  war  to  begin  as  in  the  West.  Here,  on  the 
frontier,  the  traditional  enmity  toward  England  was  compara- 
tively untouched  by  the  commercial  advantages  which  com- 
mitted New  England  to  a  policy  of  peace.  Revival  of  commerce 
had  little  effect  upon  the  West  with  its  desultory  cultivation  and 

s«  In  a  speech  delivered  at  a  council  of  the  tribes  at  Massassinway  on  the  Wabash,  in 
May,  1812,  Tecumseh  disclaimed  responsibility  for  the  fight  of  Tippecanoe,  referring  to  it  as 
"the  unfortunate  transaction  that  took  place  between  the  white  people  and  a  few  of  our 
young  men  at  our  village."  He  stated  that  the  trouble  between  his  followers  and  Governor 
Harrison  had  been  settled,  and  further  that  had  he  been  at  home  there  would  have  been  no 
bloodshed  (D'awson,  Harrison,  266-67). 

195 


196  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

crude  and  inadequate  means  of  transportation,  but  the  spirit  of 
expansion  was  strong  and  the  greed  for  land  was  unappeased. 
To -this  sentiment  was  added  the  belief,  firmly  held  by  the 
westerner,  that  the  British  were  primarily  responsible  for  the 
insecurity  of  the  frontier.  In  part  this  was  justified  by  the  facts 
of  the  situation,  but  not  to  the  extent  which  the  American 
frontiersmen  believed  it  was.  Whether  well  founded  or  not,  the 
belief  filled  them  with  resentment  toward  the  British  and  ren- 
dered them  keen  for  war.  "I  cannot  but  notice,"  wrote  Surgeon 
Van  Voorhis  from  Fort  Dearborn  in  October,  1811,  in  a  letter  to 
a  friend,  "the  villainy  practiced  in  the  Indian  country  by  British 
agents  and  traders ;  you  hear  of  it  at  a  distance,  but  we  near  the 
scene  of  action  are  sensible  of  it.  They  labor  by  every  unprin- 
cipled means  to  instigate  the  Savages  against  the  Americans,  to 
inculcate  the  idea  that  we  intend  to  drive  the  Indians  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  and  that  in  every  purchase  of  land  the  Government 
defrauds  them ;  and  their  united  efforts  aim  too  at  the  destruction 
of  every  trading  house  and  the  prevention  of  the  extension  of  our 
frontier.  Never  till  a  prohibition  of  the  entrance  of  all  foreigners, 
and  especially  British  subjects,  into  the  Indian  Country  takes 
place,  will  we  enjoy  a  lasting  peace  with  the  credulous,  deluded, 
and  cannibal  savages."526 

The  West  looked  forward  to  war,  not  only  as  a  solution  of  the 
Indian  problem,  but  also  as  the  means  of  securing  Canada.  Yet 
greater  danger  threatened  the  Northwest,  in  the  event  of  war, 
than  any  other  portion  of  the  United  States.  Of  the  territories 
Michigan  was  the  most  defenseless  and  exposed  to  attack. 
There  were  in  all  ten  settlements  scattered  over  a  wide  extent 
of  country,  the  distance  between  the  closest  of  them  being 
thirty  miles  and  that  between  the  two  extremes  over  ten  times 
as  great.527  The  entire  population,  counting  British,  French, 
Americans,  negroes,  and  the  troops  of  the  garrison  at  Detroit, 

s"  Van  Voorhis,  Ancestry  of  Major  Wm.  Roe  Van  Voorhis,  144-45. 

«"  Memorial  of  the  inhabitants  of  Michigan  Territory  to  the  President  and  Congress, 
December  8  and  10,  1811,  in  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  780-82;  Michigan 
Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  61-63. 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  197 

was  less  than  five  thousand,  four-fifths  of  them  being  of  French- 
Canadian  descent.  The  chief  source  of  danger  arose,  however, 
from  the  exposed  situation  of  the  settlements,  rather  than  from 
lack  of  numbers.  Ordinarily  the  frontier  was  the  extreme  line 
of  white  occupation  and  was  backed  by  settlements  whose  popu- 
lation became  denser  in  proportion  to  their  distance  from  it. 
Michigan,  however,  presented  the  phenomenon  of  a  double 
frontier,  open  on  one  side  to  the  British  and  on  the  other  to  the 
savages;  furthermore  the  settlements  were  so  scattered  as  to 
render  effectual  co-operation  between  them  in  case  of  attack  out 
of  the  question. 

Separated  from  even  the  southernmost  of  the  Michigan  settle- 
ments by  a  wide  extent  of  wilderness,  which  contained  the 
stronghold  of  the  budding  Indian  confederacy,  were  the  white 
settlements  of  Indiana.  They  had  a  population  of  about  thirty 
thousand,  clustered  principally  in  two  groups,  the  one  around 
Vincennes,  the  other  on  the  Ohio  opposite  Louisville,  with  one 
hundred  miles  of  wilderness  between  them.528  From  the  Wabash 
to  the  Illinois  and  Kankakee,  stretching  far  to  the  southward, 
was  the  great  wedge  of  lands  still  held  by  the  Indian  tribes. 
Beginning  with  the  old  French  town  of  Vincennes,  then  Harri- 
son's headquarters,  the  line  of  the  frontier  followed  the  Wabash 
River  nearly  fifty  miles  to  Fort  Harrison,  opposite  the  present 
city  of  Terre  Haute.  Extending  north  from  Fort  Harrison  to  the 
Michigan  settlements  and  westward  to  the  Mississippi  were  the 
Indian  villages  and  hunting-grounds.  The  principal  settlements 
of  Illinois  were  still,  as  in  the  old  French  days,  clustered  along  its 
lower  Mississippi  border.  A  line  drawn  from  Vincennes  to  the 
mouth  of  Rock  River  on  the  Mississippi  would  have  had  south 
of  it  practically  all  of  them.  The  total  white  population  of  the 
territory  was  probably  less  than  half  that  of  Indiana. 

To  protect  this  extensive  northwestern  frontier  the  United 
States  had,  in  the  early  part  of  1812,  some  half-dozen  feeble 
garrisons,  with  an  average  strength  of  about  seventy-five  men. 

>"  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United  Slates,  VI,  68. 


1 98  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

At  Detroit,  the  largest  and  most  important  military  station  in  the 
Northwest,  were  ninety-four  men;529  at  Mackinac,  three  hundred 
miles  away,  were  seventy-nine;  at  the  opposite  end  of  Lake 
Michigan  and  about  an  equal  distance  from  both  Mackinac  and 
Detroit  was  Fort  Dearborn  with  a  garrison  of  fifty-five  men;  at 
Fort  Wayne  and  at  Fort  Harrison,  the  new  stockade  on  the 
Wabash,  were  about  as  many.  All  of  these  were  one-company 
posts  except  Detroit,  which  had  two  companies.  The  fortifica- 
tions had  not  been  designed  for,  nor  were  they  expected  to  be 
capable  of,  defense  against  the  forces  of  a  civilized  nation.  They 
were  supposed  to  possess  sufficient  strength  to  withstand  an 
attack  by  Indians  alone,  and,  providing  the  supply  of  provisions 
held  out,  this  expectation  would  ordinarily  have  been  realized. 
Even  so,  however,  they  could  do  nothing  toward  defending  the 
scattered  settlements  against  the  attacks  of  the  Ind'ans,  and  the 
sequel  showed  that  the  garrisons  were  not  even  able  to  defend 
themselves.  Mackinac  surrendered  without  resistance  to  a  com- 
bined force  of  Indians  and  Canadian  traders;  Fort  Dearborn  was 
abandoned,  and  the  garrison  was  destroyed  while  seeking  to  es- 
cape; and  Fort  Wayne  was  saved  from  impend  ng  capture  only  by 
the  approach  of  a  large  force  of  militia  under  General  Harrison. 
Against  this  frontier  could  be  launched,  in  the  event  of  an 
Indian  war  alone,  several  thousand  warriors.530  If  war  were 
joined  with  Great  Britain  at  the  same  time,  it  was  believed  by 
both  sides,  and  with  good  reason,  that  several  thousand  men 
employed  in  the  Indian  trade  and  in  sympathy  with  the  British 
would  co-operate  in  the  attack  on  the  American  frontier.531 
Potentially  the  Americans  possessed  in  the  population  of  Ohio 
and  Kentucky  resources  vastly  greater  than  those  their  oppo- 
nents could  bring  to  bear  on  the  Northwest;  and  in  the  end  the 
superiority  of  population  made  itself  manifest  in  the  triumph  of 

s*'  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  781. 

»•  In  the  memorial  cited  above  (note  527)  of  the  inhabitants  of  Michigan  Territory  to 
the  President  and  Congress,  December  8  and  10, 1811,  the  number  of  warriors  that  might  be 
brought  against  Detroit  was  estimated  at  five  thousand. 

""  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  61-63,  70-72;  Drennan  Papers,  Hull  to  Eustis, 
March  6,  1812.  The  Americans  estimated  the  number  of  traders  who  would  assist  the 
British  at  four  thousand. 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  199 

the  American  cause  in  this  region.  But  this  triumph  came  only 
after  more  than  a  year  of  fighting,  during  the  greater  part  of 
which  the  Americans  met  with  disaster  after  disaster.  For  the 
immediate  present  the  northwestern  frontier  was  practically 
undefended  while  in  the  traders  and  Indians  the  British  possessed 
a  force  immediately  available  for  action  which  constituted  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  formidable  standing  army. 

That  this  force  was  not  such  as  could  safely  be  despised  both 
the  words  and  actions  of  the  frontiersmen  gave  testimony.  In 
more  recent  years  on  the  western  plains  the  forces  of  the  regular 
army  of  the  United  States  have  time  and  again  manifested  their 
superiority  over  the  Indians  in  open  battle;  and  only  rarely, 
when  the  advantage  of  numbers  or  position  was  greatly  in  their 
favor,  have  the  red  men  won  a  victory  over  them.  But  in  the  old 
Northwest,  where  advantage  could  be  taken  of  the  heavy  timber 
which  covered  so  much  of  the  country,  the  Indian  warriors  fight- 
ing on  their  own  ground  were  superior,  man  for  man,  to  any 
regular  force  that  could  be  sent  against  them.  In  fifty  years  of 
warfare  with  the  whites  the  northwestern  Indians  had  never  been 
defeated  in  open  battle  where  the  strength  on  both  sides  was 
nearly  equal,532  while  time  and  again  the  forces  of  the  whites  had 
succumbed  to  inferior  numbers.  The  one  decisive  American 
victory  over  these  tribes  down  to  the  War  of  1812  was  that  of 
Fallen  Timbers  in  1794.  But  this  victory  was  won  by  a  largely 
superior  force  under  the  command  of  the  ablest  general,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Clark,  that  the  Americans  had  ever  sent 
into  the  Northwest,  and  after  two  years  of  arduous  preparation 
for  the  contest. 

The  battle  of  Tippecanoe  afforded  the  most  recent  illustration 
of  the  prowess  of  the  native  warriors.  Harrison  was  probably 
better  fitted  to  command  in  a  campaign  against  the  Indians  than 
any  other  man  in  the  Northwest,  and  in  this  campaign  he  had  a 
force  of  one  thousand  soldiers533  of  as  high  quality,  on  the  whole, 

"'  Adams,  op.  cit.,  VI,  100;  Dawson,  Harrison,  216,  250. 

"j  The  number  of  Harrison's  troops  cannot  be  stated  with  entire  precision.  For 
a  discussion  of  this  point  see  Adams,  op.  cit.,  VI,  96,  and  note  534  below. 


200  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

as  America  could  produce.  In  the  actual  battle  his  force  out- 
numbered the  Indians  in  the  proportion  of  two  to  one.534  Yet  it 
was  only  with  extreme  difficulty  and  at  the  cost  in  killed  and 
wounded  of  one-fourth  of  his  army  that  the  Indian  attack  was 
beaten  off.  Even  this  success  was  due  in  part  to  good  fortune 
for  the  savages  had  purposely  neglected  far  more  favorable 
opportunities  for  attacking  Harrison  than  the  one  they  finally 
embraced.  Furthermore,  even  Harrison's  advocate  grants  that 
they  fought  with  inferior  arms  and  under  circumstances  which 
sacrificed  the  advantages  which  their  style  of  fighting  ordinarily 
afforded.535  But  for  the  absence  of  Tecumseh  and  the  reluctance 
of  the  Indians  to  fight  at  all,  it  is  not  improbable  that  Harrison's 
army  would  have  been  overwhelmed.536 

An  indecisive  blow  had  thus  been  struck,  after  which  Harri- 
son's forces  were  disbanded  or  scattered,  and  the  frontier  again 
became  as  defenseless  as  before  the  Tippecanoe  campaign. 
With  the  series  of  depredations  and  murders  which  marked  the 
spring  of  1812  the  settlers  became  panic-stricken.  Large  num- 
bers abandoned  their  farms  and  either  took  refuge  in  temporary 
stockade  forts  or  fled  to  a  safer  retreat  in  the  older  settlements.537 
The  peril  from  which  they  fled  was  graphically  painted  by  the  citi- 
zens of  Detroit  in  their  appeal  to  the  government  for  protection,  in 
December,  1811.  "The  horrors  of  savage  belligerence,  descrip- 

s"  Harrison  himself  stated  his  number  in  the  battle  as  "  very  little  above  seven  hundred 
men,"  aside  from  sixty  dragoons  whom  he  omitted  from  consideration  because  they  were 
"  unable  to  do  us  much  service."  They  were  present  in  the  battle,  however,  and  it  is  obvious 
that  the  mere  fact  of  Harrison's  failure  to  make  effective  use  of  them  does  not  justify  their 
omission  from  a  statement  of  the  strength  of  his  army.  The  statement  of  Dawson,  his 
biographer,  therefore,  that  on  the  day  before  the  battle  he  had  "something  more  than  eight 
hundred  men,"  may  be  regarded  as  approximately  correct.  The  number  of  the  Prophet's 
followers  can  only  be  estimated.  Harrison  was  "convinced  that  there  were  at  least  six 
hundred,"  but  he  admits  that  he  had  no  data  from  which  to  form  a  correct  statement. 
Henry  Adams,  allowing  for  "the  law  of  exaggeration,"  concludes  that  there  were  not  more 
than  four  hundred  Indians  in  the  battle.  On  the  size  of  the  two  armies  see  American  State 
Papers,  Indian  Afairs,  I,  778;  Dawson,  Harrison,  216;  Adams,  op.  cit.,  VI,  104-5. 

s»s  Dawson,  Harrison,  211-12,  236-37. 

*»«  See  in  this  connection  the  account  of  the  campaign,  and  particularly  of  the  plight  of 
the  army  after  the  battle,  in  Dawson,  Harrison,  233,  238-39;  see  also,  Adams,  op.  cit.,  VI, 
chap.  v. 

537  Adams,  op.  cit.,  VI,  no;  Dawson,  Harrison,  236. 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  201 

tion  cannot  paint.  No  picture  can  resemble  the  reality.  No 
effort  can  bring  the  imagination  up  to  the  standard  of  fact.  Nor 
sex,  nor  age,  have  claims.  The  short  remnant  of  life  left  to  the 
hoary  head,  trembling  with  age  and  infirmities,  is  snatched  away. 
The  tenderest  infant,  yet  imbibing  nutrition  from  the  mamilla  of 
maternal  love,  and  the  agonized  mother  herself,  alike  await  the 
stroke  of  the  relentless  tomahawk.  No  vestige  is  left  of  what 
fire  can  consume.  Nothing  which  breathes  the  breath  of  life  is 
spared.  The  animals  reared  by  the  care  of  civilized  man  are 
involved  in  his  destruction.  No  human  foresight  can  divine  the 
quarter  which  shall  be  struck.  It  is  in  the  dead  of  the  night,  in 
the  darkness  of  the  morn,  in  the  howling  of  the  storm,  that  the 
demoniac  deed  is  done."538 

The  nation  entered  upon  the  war  in  June,  1812,  with  a  large 
portion  of  its  best  citizens  and  one  entire  section  of  the  country 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  measure.  Apathy  and  opposition  com- 
bined with  the  incompetence  of  the  administration  at  Washington 
to  produce  a  state  of  unpreparedness  which,  in  view  of  the 
seriousness  of  the  situation,  seems  today  incredible.  Congress 
voted  men  for  the  army,  but  there  was  little  disposition  on  the 
part  of  the  country  to  supply  them.  The  money  that  was  no 
less  essential  to  the  conduct  of  a  war  not  even  Congress  was 
willing  to  vote,  except  to  a  ludicrously  inadequate  degree.539 
Great  Britain  had  stood  undaunted  for  years  between  Napoleon 
and  the  realization  of  his  ambition  of  European  if  not  of  world 
supremacy.  Through  generations  of  warfare  her  people  had 
become  habituated  to  devoting  their  treasure  to  this  end,  and 
had  developed  a  strong  military  tradition.  Both  government 
and  army  had  been  brought  to  the  greatest  possible  state  of 
efficiency  for  the  conduct  of  war  by  the  experience  gained  in  the 
two  decades  of  practically  constant  warfare  which  the  French 
Revolutionary  era  had  opened.  That  the  greater  part  of  this 
schooling  had  been  gained  in  combat  with  Napoleon,  the  greatest 

53<  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  781. 

ss»  On  this  whole  subject  see  Adams,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  VI,  passim;  Babcock,  Rise  of  Ameri- 
can Nationality,  chaps,  iv  and  v. 


202  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

military  genius  of  modern  times,  did  not  detract  from  its  value. 
On  the  sea  the  power  of  England  was  superior  to  that  of  all  the 
rest  of  the  world  combined. 

The  contrast  presented  by  the  United  States  in  1812  in  all 
that  pertained  to  military  affairs  could  hardly  have  been  more 
striking.  That  the  Americans  were  brave  and  potentially  capable 
of  making  good  soldiers  does  not,  of  course,  admit  of  question. 
But  this  is  equally  true  of  the  members  of  the  mob  which  flees  in 
terror  before  a  detachment  of  regulars  one-tenth  as  numerous  as 
itself.  The  lack  of  a  well-trained  army  was  less  serious,  however, 
than  was  the  absence  of  a  disposition  to  submit  to  the  labors  and 
discipline  necessary  to  create  one.  Of  capable  military  leaders 
we  had  none.  Yet  this,  while  deplorable  enough,  was  not  so 
serious,  probably,  as  was  the  contempt  which  all  Americans  out- 
side the  army  itself  evinced  for  regular  military  training  and 
experience.  Even  after  the  bitter  lessons  taught  us  on  land  by 
the  War  of  1812,  a  sixteen-year-old  runaway  boy  could  convince 
as  intelligent  a  man  as  Calhoun  that  he  had  a  greater  claim  to 
preferment  in  the  army  than  had  the  graduate  of  West  Point.540 
And  in  the  early  stages  of  our  next  war  with  a  civilized  nation  the 
President  of  the  United  States  deliberately  determined  to  appoint 
all  of  the  officers  of  a  newly  created  regiment  from  civil  life,  on 
the  double  ground  that  since  he  could  not  promote  all  of  the 
officers  of  the  existing  army  he  would  not  promote  any  of  them, 
and  that  it  was  "generally  expected  that  they  should  be  selected 
from  citizens."541 

On  the  sea  we  opposed  sixteen  ships,542  excellent  enough  for 
their  class,  to  the  eight  hundred  odd  of  England.  Their  showing 
in  the  ensuing  war  is  worthy  of  all  praise.  Yet  it  was  probably 
as  genuinely  a  matter  of  surprise  to  the  Americans  as  it  was  to 
the  British  themselves.  The  glamor  which  resulted  from  the 

"'Andrews,  Biographical  Sketch  of  James  Watson  Webb,  5-7. 

s«  Diary  of  James  K.  Polk,  I,  412.  The  same  contempt  for  trained  military  leaders, 
and  preference  for  political  appointees,  was  manifested  during  the  early  years  of  the  Civil 
War. 

s«  Adams,  op.  cit.,  VI,  362.  This  statement  omits  from  consideration  the  gunboats  of 
Jefferson's  mosquito  fleet. 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  203 

success  of  the  Americans  in  a  number  of  single-ship  duels  has 
blinded  the  eyes  of  later  generations  to  the  facts  that  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  war  the  British  vessels  maintained  a  close 
blockade  of  the  American  coast,  insulting  our  sea  ports  with 
impunity,  and  that  the  navy  committed  blunders  almost  as 
serious  as  those  of  the  army  on  land. 

The  army,  when  war  was  declared,  was  partly  in  the  field  and 
partly  on  paper.543  The  former  portion  consisted  of  ten  old 
regiments  with  ranks  partly  filled,  scattered  in  numerous  garri- 
sons from  New  England  to  New  Orleans.  The  latter  consisted  of 
thirteen  new  regiments  which  had  been  authorized  by  Congress 
in  January,  but  although  recruiting  began  in  March,  only  four 
thousand  men  had  been  secured  by  the  middle  of  June.  Shortly 
after  the  declaration  of  war  Congress  fixed  the  regular  establish- 
ment at  thirty-two  regiments  with  a  strength  of  thirty-six 
thousand  seven  hundred  men,  yet  at  this  time,  including  the 
four  thousand  new  recruits,  there  were  but  ten  thousand  men 
under  arms.  In  February  the  raising  of  fifty  thousand  volun- 
teers for  one  year  was  authorized,  and  in  April  the  President 
was  given  power  to  call  out  one  hundred  thousand  state  militia. 
But  in  June  less  than  one-twelfth  of  the  volunteers  had  been 
enrolled,  and  whether  the  states  would  heed  the  call  upon  them 
for  militia,  or  whether  the  militia  when  raised  would  serve  beyond 
the  frontier,  no  one  yet  knew. 

The  main  reliance  of  the  Americans  must  obviously  be  the 
militia.  Fighting  within  their  own  boundaries,  under  competent 
officers  of  their  own  choosing,  and  in  their  own  way,  they  were 
capable  of  excellent,  and  at  times  even  brilliant  service;  Benning- 
ton,  King's  Mountain,  and  New  Orleans  are  sufficient  evidence 
of  this.  But  for  prolonged  service  in  a  national  and  offensive 
war  they  were  of  very  little  account.  In  subservience  to  impulse 
and  impatience  of  discipline  they  rivaled  the  Indian  himself. 
Said  Amos  Kendall,  after  witnessing  a  temporary  muster  in 
Kentucky  in  the  summer  of  1814:  "The  soldiers  are  under  no 

n>  On  the  state  of  the  army  at  this  time  see  McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  (he  United 
States,  III,  chap,  xxiii;  Adams,  op.  cit.,  VI,  chap,  xiv;  Babcock,  op.  cit.,  chap.  v. 


204  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

more  restraint  than  a  herd  of  swine.  Reasoning,  remonstrating, 
threatening,  and  ridiculing  their  officers,  they  show  their  sense  of 
equality,  and  their  total  want  of  subordination."544  Even  so 
popular  and  experienced  a  frontiersman  as  Harrison,  leading  the 
citizens  of  his  own  territory  in  defense  of  their  own  homes,  found 
great  difficulty  in  controlling  the  militia  in  the  short  Tippecanoe 
campaign.  His  biographer  repeats  with  evident  pride  that  he 
relied  upon  his  persuasive  eloquence,  rather  than  his  authority, 
to  prevent  a  general  desertion.545 

Equally  typical  of  the  volunteer  militia  of  this  period  was  the 
action  of  the  Ohioans  on  receipt  of  the  news,  in  the  summer  of 
1812,  that  Fort  Wayne  was  in  imminent  danger  from  the  Indians. 
Their  ardor  to  serve  was  such  that  "every  road  to  the  frontiers 
was  crowded  with  unsolicited  volunteers."546  Yet  this  zeal, 
praiseworthy  as  it  was  in  itself,  only  resulted  in  the  consumption 
of  the  provisions  which  by  General  Hull's  orders  had  been 
accumulated  at  the  outposts  for  his  use.  When  Harrison  was 
finally  ready  to  start  upon  the  expedition  for  the  relief  of  Fort 
Wayne  he  paraded  his  troops,  "read  several  articles  of  war,  pre- 
scribing the  duty  of  soldiers,  and  explained  the  necessity  for  such 
regulations,"  and  gave  those  who  were  unwilling  to  submit  to 
them  an  opportunity  to  withdraw  from  the  force.  The  enthu- 
siasm of  the  troops  was  such  that  only  one  man  availed  himself 
of  this  opportunity;  and  he  was  conveyed  astride  a  rail  by  his 
disgusted  associates  to  the  banks  of  the  Big  Miami,  "in  the 
waters  of  which  they  absolved  him  from  the  obligations  of  cour- 
age and  patriotism."  Yet  not  all  of  Harrison's  eloquence  sufficed 
ten  days  later  to  prevent  the  Ohio  militia  from  abandoning  his 
army  in  a  body  and  returning  to  their  homes  with  the  campaign 
but  half  completed.547 

However  excellent  the  quality  of  the  rank  and  file  may  have 
been,  it  still  would  have  availed  little  in  the  absence  of  competent 
leaders.  The  painful  experience  of  the  government  in  the  early 

««« Quoted  in  Babcock,  op.  cit.,  79-80. 

5«Dawson,  Harrison,  230-31.  »«« Ibid.,  288. 

s"  McAfee,  History  of  the  Late  War  in  the  Western  Country,  128. 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  205 

years  of  the  Civil  War  has  burned  this  lesson  deeply  into  the 
consciousness  of  the  American  people.  Though  the  War  of  1812 
was  waged  on  a  far  smaller  scale,  the  lack  of  competent  generals 
in  the  earlier  years  is  even  more  painfully  apparent.  The  officers 
appointed  by  the  President  to  command  the  army  in  1812  have 
been  well  described  as  "old,  vain,  respectable,  and  incapable."548 
Of  the  two  major  generals  and  five  brigadiers  the  youngest  was 
fifty-five  years  of  age,  and  the  average  age  was  fifty-nine.  Most 
of  them  were  veterans  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  only  one 
had  ever  commanded  a  regiment  in  the  face  of  an  enemy. 

The  general  plan  proposed  by  Dearborn  for  the  campaign 
provided  for  a  main  expedition  against  Montreal  by  way  of  Lake 
Champlain,  flanked  by  invasions  of  Canada  from  Detroit, 
Niagara,  and  Sackett's  Harbor.  Such  a  plan  vigorously  pushed 
with  proper  forces  would  have  compelled  the  British  forces  to 
stand  strictly  on  the  defensive,  the  Indians  would  have  had  no 
encouragement  to  rise,  and  the  northwestern  frontier  might  have 
been  spared  the  horrors  of  the  warfare  that  soon  broke  upon  it. 
But  while  a  force  was  sent  to  Detroit  under  Hull  to  begin  the 
campaign  in  that  quarter,  elsewhere  hostilities  lagged.  Hull's 
campaign,  therefore,  on  the  issue  of  which  hung  the  fate  of  the 
Northwest,  may  receive  our  undivided  attention. 

Hull  had  neither  sought  nor  desired  the  appointment  to  the 
command  of  the  army  in  the  Northwest.  As  a  soldier  of  the 
Revolution  and  in  various  capacities  since  that  war  he  had 
acquitted  himself  with  credit,  when,  in  1805,  he  was  appointed 
by  Jefferson  governor  of  the  newly  created  Michigan  Territory. 
In  this  office  he  remained  when  the  War  of  1812  began,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  his  career  as  governor  had  been  marked 
by  discord  and  disappointment,  due  largely  to  Hull's  inability  to 
adjust  himself  to  the  environment,  new  to  him,  of  the  frontier.549 
He  had  urged  upon  the  government  the  desirability  of  rendering 
Michigan  defensible  from  a  military  point  of  view,  advocating 
as  essential  to  this  end  the  control  by  armed  vessels  of  Lake 

s««  McMaster,  United  States,  III,  546. 

s«*  On  Hull's  career  as  governor  see  Cooley,  Michigan,  chap.  viii. 


206  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Erie.550  In  the  early  part  of  181 2  he  was  in  Washington  urging  the 
same  subject  again  upon  the  government.  While  thus  engaged 
the  military  appointment  of  commander  of  the  forces  in  that 
quarter  was  tendered  to  him  by  Madison  and  declined. SSI  Colonel 
Jacob  Kingsbury,  who  had  commanded  at  Detroit,  Mackinac, 
and  Belle  Fontaine  from  1804  to  1811,  and  was  now  on  leave  of 
absence,  was  ordered  to  the  West  to  resume  his  old  command. 
He  was,  however,  incapacitated  by  illness,  whereupon  Hull,  urged 
a  second  time  by  the  administration,  accepted  the  appointment. 

From  every  point  of  view  this  was  a  calamity.  Hull's  opin- 
ion that  the  control  of  the  lakes  was  essential  to  the  safety  of 
Detroit  and  the  Northwest  had  been  repeatedly  expressed,  the 
last  time  as  recently  as  March  6,  1812.  Since  that  control  had 
not  been  gained,  it  followed  that  Hull  believed  himself  at  the 
mercy  of  the  enemy  in  the  event  of  war.  Holding  such  views  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  enter  upon  the  invasion  of  Canada  with 
.any  confidence  or  determination.  Kingsbury  had  seen  much 
of  the  Northwest.  Having  had  years  of  military  service  there, 
he  was  familiar  with  Heald,  Whistler,  and  the  other  post  com- 
manders, and  was  possessed  of  energy  and  decision  of  character. 
Under  him,  even  though  the  invasion  of  Canada  had  not  been 
carried  out,  it  is  not  likely  t.iat  Detroit  would  have  surrendered 
without  a  frght,  and  Fort  earborn  have  been  left  to  its  fate. 

The  force  put  at  Hull's  disposal  consisted  of  three  regiments 
of  Ohio  militia,  the  Fourth  United  States  Infantry,  which  had 
constituted  the  nucleus  of  Harrison's  force  at  Tippecanoe,  a  troop 
of  Ohio  dragoons,  and  some  scattering  companies  of  volunteers, 
amounting  in  all  to  about  two  thousand  men.  With  this  force  he 
must  cut  a  road  through  the  wilderness  of  northern  Ohio,  estab- 
lish blockhouses  to  protect  his  line  of  communication  for  two 
hundred  miles  through  the  Indian  country,  protect  the  settle- 
ments, and,  according  to  the  expectations  of  the  government, 
conquer  Upper  Canada.  The  mere  statement  of  the  task  is 

"•  Cooley,  Michigan,  164;  Hull,  Campaign  of  1812,  19-21;  Drennan  Papers,  Hull  to 
Eustis,  March  6,  1812. 

55-  Cooley,  Michigan,  167;  Hull,  Campaign  of  1812,  14-18. 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  207 

sufficient  to  demonstrate  the  impossibility  of  executing  it  with 
the  means  at  his  disposal. 

On  April  25  Hull  reached  Pittsburgh  on  his  way  to  the  West,552 
and  twelve  days  later  was  at  Cincinnati,  having  come  from 
Baltimore,  a  distance  of  over  eight  hundred  miles,  in  sixteen 
days.553  Meanwhile  Governor  Meigs  with  praiseworthy  expedi- 
tion was  recruiting  and  organizing  the  regiments  of  militia.  On 
May  25  he  turned  them  over  to  Hull  with  a  spirited  speech 
worthy  of  Napoleon's  best  style  and  containing  withal  much 
good  advice.554  The  failure  of  the  dragoons  and  the  regiment 
of  regulars  to  arrive  was  causing  Hull  much  anxiety,  but  he 
announced  his  intention  to  proceed  without  them.555  At  last,  on 
June  10,  the  regulars  joined  him  at  Urbana.556  The  whole  army 
marched  out  a  mile  to  meet  and  escort  them  ceremoniously  into 
camp.  A  triumphal  arch  had  been  erected  near  the  camp,  with 
the  American  eagle  displayed  on  the  keystone,  and  inscribed  in 
capitals  on  one  side  the  word  "Tippecanoe,"  and  on  the  other 
"  Glory."  In  the  place  of  honor  at  the  head  of  the  army,  pre- 
ceded only  by  the  troops  of  mounted  dragoons,  the  regulars 
made  their  way  into  camp.  Arrived  at  the  arch,  the  cavalry 
opened  out,  allowing  them  to  pass  beneath  it,  while  the  militia 
regiments  passed  by  on  the  outside,  "hoping  soon  to  be  entitled 
to  similar  honors." 

This  pleasing  ceremony  ended,  and  permission  having  been 
gained  from  the  Indian  chiefs  to  open  a  road  through  their 
country  and  protect  it  with  blockhouses,557  the  advance  was 
pressed  with  vigor.  The  obstacles  to  be  overcome  were  many :  a 
new  road  fit  for  the  passage  of  an  army  must  be  cut,  blockhouses 
were  to  be  erected  at  intervals  of  twenty  miles  through  the  Indian 
country,  and  the  provisions  needed  for  the  army  must  be  brought 

»«•  Drennan  Papers,  Hull  to  Eustis,  April  26,  1812. 
as  Ibid.,  Hull  to  Eustis,  May  8,  1812. 

554  Ibid.,  Meigs's  address  to  the  "First  Army  of  Ohio,"  May  25,  1812;  Hull  to  Eustis, 
May  26,  1812. 

H*  Ibid.,  Hull  to  Eustis,  May  17,  1812.        "6  Ibid.,  Hull  to  Eustis,  June  n,  1812. 
55'  The  agreement  entered  into  is  given  in  Drennan  Papers,  Hull  to  Eustis,  June  9,  181 2 


208  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

forward  from  the  settled  portion  of  Ohio.  The  equipment  of  the 
army  was  notably  deficient  in  certain  important  respects.  On 
reaching  Cincinnati,  Hull  had  found  the  supply  of  powder  so 
inadequate  as  to  necessitate  sending  at  once  to  Lexington  for 
more.558  The  guns  were  in  such  poor  condition  that  to  render 
them  fit  for  use  Hull  was  compelled  to  carry  a  traveling  forge 
and  create  a  company  of  artificers  to  repair  them  as  the  army 
advanced.  In  this  way  they  were  rendered  serviceable  at  the 
rate  of  fifty  a  day.559 

Hull  reported  the  spirit  of  the  army  as  excellent,  yet  a  serious 
case  of  insubordination  occurred  at  Urbana  over  a  grievance,  real 
or  fancied,  on  the  part  of  the  militia  with  respect  to  their  pay.560 
The  officers  had  promised  the  men  an  advance  for  the  year's 
clothing,  which  was  not  forthcoming.  Papers  were  accordingly 
posted  on  trees  the  night  before  the  departure  from  Urbana, 
warning  Hull  not  to  march  until  the  army  had  been  paid.  He 
announced  his  determination  to  proceed,  and  when  the  assembly 
beat  all  but  one  company  obeyed  the  order.  A  detachment  from 
the  Fourth  Regiment  of  regulars  was  immediately  marched 
toward  it,  which  cowed  the  mutineers  into  submission.  Three 
of  the  ringleaders  were  tried  by  a  court  martial  which  sentenced 
them  to  have  one-half  their  heads  shaved,  their  hands  tied  behind 
their  backs,  to  be  marched  around  the  lines  with  the  label 
"Tory"  between  the  shoulders,  and  be  drummed  out  of  the  army. 

This  exhibition  of  firmness  on  Hull's  part  seems  to  have  had 
the  desired  effect.  The  culprits  felt  the  disgrace  keenly,  con- 
sidering the  punishment  worse  than  death,  and  at  the  solicitation 
of  their  officers  Hull  consented  to  pardon  them.561  Heavy  and 
incessant  rains,  combined  with  the  other  obstacles,  prevented 
the  army  from  making  the  progress  the  commander  desired.563 
On  June  26,  when  Hull  received  a  message  warning  him  of  the 
impending  hostilities  and  urging  him  to  press  forward  with  all 

a*  Drennan  Papers,  Hull  to  Eustis,  May  8,  1812. 

u'lbid.,  Hull  to  Eustis,  June  n,  1812. 

fi'Ibid.,  Hull  to  Eustis,  June  18,  1812.  ««•  Ibid. 

f6*  Ibid.,  Hull  to  Eustis,  June  24  and  26,  1812. 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  209 

possible  speed,  he  had  covered  only  about  seventy-five  miles 
from  Urbana  and  was  still  thirty-five  miles  from  the  Maumee 
Rapids.563  He  reached  this  point  four  days  later,  and  thereupon 
committed  his  first  blunder.  To  save  transportation,  his  per- 
sonal baggage,  papers,  hospital  stores,  and  other  material  were 
embarked  on  a  schooner  for  Detroit.  Meanwhile  war  had  been 
declared  by  Congress  on  June  18;  and  the  British  forces  at 
Maiden,  receiving  prompt  notice  of  this,  seized  the  schooner 
with  all  it  contained.  Thus  they  became  apprised  of  Hull's 
strength  and  of  his  instructions  from  his  government. 

On  July  5  Hull  reached  Detroit,  and  four  days  later  received 
word  from  \Vashington  to  begin  the  invasion  of  Canada.564  His 
reply  expressed  confidence  in  his  ability  to  drive  the  British  from 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  but  he  did  not  believe  he  could 
take  Maiden.  A  week  later  he  crossed  the  river  and  occupied 
Sandwich,  the  British  retiring  before  him  without  a  blow.  From 
Sandwich  a  proclamation  was  issued  to  the  Canadians,  designed 
to  secure  their  acquiescence  in  the  American  conquest.565  To 
some  extent  this  hope  was  realized,  and  numbers  of  the  Canadian 
militia  deserted  to  the  Americans.  Instead,  however,  of  pressing 
the  attack  on  Maiden  at  once,  from  this  time  Hull  delayed  until, 
with  the  enemy  growing  stronger  and  his  own  position  more  pre- 
carious, he  lost  all  hope  of  success  and  retreated  to  Detroit. 
The  factors  responsible  for  this  decision  were  the  news  of  the 
capture  of  Mackinac  with  the  prospect  of  the  approach  of  a  large 
number  of  traders  and  Indians  upon  Detroit  in  his  rear,  and  the 
attacks  by  Tecumseh's  Indians  upon  his  line  of  communications 
with  Ohio. 

While  Hull  had  thus  been  conducting  affairs  at  Detroit, 
Dearborn,  who  had  command  of  the  army  in  New  York,  was 
dallying  at  Boston  and  Albany,  doing  nothing  to  engage  the 
British  by  pushing  the  attack  upon  Canada  from  New  York,  a 
measure  which  was  essential  to  Hull's  success.  On  August  9  he 
even  entered  into  an  armistice  with  the  British  which  bound  him 

«*»  Adams,  United  States,  VI,  298-99;  Drennan  Papers,  Hull  to  Eustis,  June  26,  1812. 
»«<  Adams,  op.  cil.,  VI,  302.  *t  Ibid.,  VI,  303-4. 


210  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

to  act  only  on  the  defensive  until  the  government  at  Washington 
should  decide  upon  the  effect  of  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious 
orders.  This  inactivity  in  the  East  left  Brock,  the  British  com- 
mander in  Upper  Canada,  entirely  free  to  direct  his  attention  to 
Hull;  and  the  attack  upon  Niagara  on  which  Hull  on  July  19 
had  declared  all  his  own  success  would  depend  was  not  made. 
Moving  with  a  vigor  and  daring  conspicuously  wanting  in  the 
American  generals,  Brock  transferred  all  of  his  available  forces 
from  the  Niagara  frontier  to  Maiden.  On  arriving  there  he 
quickly  determined  to  cross  the  river  and  assail  Hull  in  Detroit. 
Although  Hull's  force  was  the  larger,  the  audacity  of  Brock, 
combined  with  the  senility  displayed  by  Hull,  rendered  the  move- 
ment a  complete  success.  Without  awaiting  the  assault,  Hull 
surrendered  his  entire  army,  together  with  Detroit  and  Michigan 
Territory,  to  the  British. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT 

On  the  issue  of  Hull's  campaign  hung  the  fate  of  Fort  Dear- 
born. With  the  Indian,  war  was  a  passion,  at  once  his  greatest 
pleasure  and  his  chief  business  in  life.  He  could  not  remain  an 
idle  spectator  of  such  a  war  as  had  now  been  joined  between  the 
white  races,  but  must  be  a  participant  on  one  side  or  the  other. 
The  exhortations  of  the  Americans  that  the  red  man  hold  aloof 
from  the  war,  which  did  not  concern  him,  and  let  the  whites 
fight  out  their  own  quarrel,  would  be  heeded  only  on  one  condi- 
tion. The  Americans  must  manifest  such  a  decided  superiority 
over  the  British  as  to  convince  him  that  theirs  was  the  successful 
cause.  Both  disposition  and  self-interest  urged  the  Indian  to 
take  his  stand  on  the  winning  side.  As  long  as  appearances  led 
him  to  believe  that  this  was  the  American,  he  would  hold  aloof 
from  the  war,  since  the  United  States  did  not  desire  his  assistance. 
In  the  contrary  event  both  inclination  and  self-interest  would 
lead  him  to  side  with  the  British. 

There  were  exceptions,  of  course,  to  these  generalizations. 
Tecumseh's  hostility  to  the  Americans  was  independent  of  any 
such  adventitious  circumstances.  But  with  Hull  triumphant  at 
Maiden  the  tribes  to  the  west  of  Lake  Michigan  would  have 
possessed  neither  the  courage  nor  the  inclination  to  rise  against 
the  Americans;  with  the  British  flag  waving  over  Detroit  the 
whole  Northwest  as  far  as  the  Maumee  River  and  the  settle- 
ments of  southern  Indiana  and  Illinois  would,  as  Hull  pointed 
out  to  the  government  before  the  war  began,  pass  under  British 
control.566 

Alarming  reports  of  Indian  hostility  and  depredations  came 
to  Chicago  during  the  winter  of  1812.  Early  in  March  Captain 
Heald  received  news  from  a  Frenchman  at  Milwaukee  of  hos- 

«"  Drennan  Papers,  Hull  to  Eustis,  March  6,  1812. 

211 


212  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

tilities  committed  by  the  Winnebagoes  on  the  Mississippi.567  On 
April  6  a  band  of  marauders  who  were  believed  to  belong  to  the 
same  tribe  made  a  descent  upon  Chicago.568  Shortly  before 
sunset  eleven  Indians  appeared  at  the  farm  of  Russell  and  Lee 
some  three  or  four  miles  from  the  fort  up  the  South  Branch. 
Lee  is  said  to  have  settled  at  Chicago  about  the  year  1805,  hav- 
ing received  the  contract  to  supply  the  garrison  with  provisions.569 
He  lived  with  his  family  a  short  distance  southwest  of  the  fort, 
and  carried  on  his  farming  operations  at  the  place  on  the  South 
Branch  which  was  later  known  as  Hardscrabble.  Russell  was 
evidently  the  partner  of  Lee,  but  aside  from  this  fact  nothing  is 
known  about  him.  The  farm  was  under  the  immediate  super- 
intendence of  an  American  named  Liberty  White,  who  had  lived 
at  Chicago  for  some  time.570  At  the  time  of  the  descent  of  the 
marauding  war  party  there  were  three  other  persons,  in  addition 
to  White,  at  the  farm  house,  a  soldier  of  the  garrison  named  John 
Kelso,571  a  boy  whose  name  no  one  has  taken  the  trouble  to 
record,  and  a  Canadian  Frenchman,  John  B.  Cardin,  who  had 
but  recently  come  to  Chicago. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  visitors  Kelso  and  the  boy,  not 
liking  the  aspect  of  affairs,  "cleared  out"  for  the  fort.  White 
and  Cardin,  less  apprehensive  of  a  hostile  disposition  on  the  part 
of  the  Indians,  remained  and  were  shortly  murdered.  The 
former  was  "shockingly  butchered."  He  was  tomahawked  and 

*•'  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Ajjairs,  I,  806. 

5"  Short  reports  of  the  attack  by  Matthew  Irwin  and  by  Captain  Heald  are  printed  in 
Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  40-50.  Longer  and  more  valuable  accounts  are  contained  in  the 
letters  of  Heald  and  John  La  Lime  to  Captain  William  Wells,  dated  April  15  and  13  respec- 
tively, printed  in  the  Louisiana  Gazette  for  May  30,  1812.  I  have  made  use  of  the  copies  of 
these  letters  made  by  Lyman  C.  Draper,  in  the  Draper  Collection,  S,  Vol.  XXVI.  The  best 
known  account  is  Mrs.  Kinzie's  narrative  in  Wau  Bun,  155-60,  but  its  statements  require 
verification. 

*6'  Statement  of  William  R.  Head  in  his  Annals  of  Chicago,  MS  owned  by  his  widow. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  verify  it. 

i7o  Wau  Bun,  157.  That  his  first  name  was  Liberty  is  stated  by  Heald.  That  he 
had  lived  at  Chicago  for  some  time  is  evident  from  the  occurrence  of  his  name  in  Kinzie's 
account  books. 

»"  La  Lime's  letter  to  Wells,  as  printed  in  the  Louisiana  Gazette,  May  30,  1812,  gives 
the  name  of  John  Kelson.  From  the  similarity  of  names  I  infer  that  the  man  was  John 
Kelso,  a  private  in  Heald's  company. 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT  213 

scalped,  his  face  was  mutilated  and  his  throat  cut  from  ear  to 
ear,  and  he  received  two  balls  through  his  body  and  ten  knife 
stabs  in  his  breast  and  hip.  It  was  with  reason  that  Heald 
declared  him  to  be  "the  most  horrible  object  I  ever  beheld  in  my 
life."  Cardin  was  shot  through  the  neck  and  scalped,  but  his 
body  was  not  otherwise  mutilated.  It  was  Heald's  belief  that 
the  Indians  "spared  him  a  little"  out  of  consideration  for  his 
nationality. 

Following  the  murder  of  White  and  Cardin,  the  garrison  and 
the  civilian  residents  of  Chicago  endured  for  some  time  what  may 
fairly  be  described  as  a  state  of  siege.572  The  murderers  were 
supposed  to  belong  to  the  Winnebago  tribe,  but  the  efforts  of  the 
commander  to  learn  from  the  neighboring  Indians  whether  the 
supposition  was  correct  were  in  vain.  Accordingly  he  forbade 
the  Indians  to  come  to  the  place  until  he  should  learn  to  what 
nation  the  murderers  belonged.  Kinzie  moved  his  family  into 
the  fort,  and  all  of  the  other  residents  of  the  place  outside  the 
garrison  fortified  themselves  in  the  house  formerly  occupied  by 
Jouett,  the  Indian  agent.  Those  able  to  bear  arms,  fifteen  in  all, 
were  organized  by  Heald  into  a  militia  company  and  furnished 
with  arms  and  ammunition  from  the  garrison  store.573  Parties  of 
savages  lurked  around,  and  the  whites  were  forced  to  keep  close 
to  the  fort  to  avoid  the  danger  of  losing  their  scalps.  A  few  days 
after  the  murders  three  of  the  militia,  two  half-breeds  and  a 
Frenchman,  deserted,  thus  reducing  the  membership  of  the  com- 
pany to  twelve,  the  number  present  at  the  time  of  the  massacre. 
The  deserters  were  believed  to  have  gone  in  the  direction  of 
"Millewakii,"  taking  ten  or  a  dozen  horses  with  them. 

On  May  i  Francis  Keneaum,  a  British  subject  who  lived  at 
Maiden,  reached  Chicago  attended  by  two  Chippewa  Indians, 
en  route  for  Green  Bay.574  The  party  was  arrested  on  suspicion 
that  Keneaum  was  a  British  emissary,  and  he  subsequently  made 

571  The  narrative  at  this  point  is  based  on  the  letters  of  La  Lime  and  Heald  to  Captain 
Wells,  April  13  and  15,  1812. 

5"  Letter  of  Heald  to  Captain  Wells,  April  15,  1812;  letter  of  Sergeant  William 
Griffith  to  Heald,  June  13,  1820,  Draper  Collection,  U,  VIII,  88. 

"<  Edwards,  Life  of  Ninian  Edwards,  324. 


214  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

an  affidavit  showing  that  he  had  been  engaged  by  the  brother-in- 
law  of  Matthew  Elliot,  the  British  Indian  agent,  to  go  on  a  secret 
mission  to  Robert  Dickson,  the  most  active  and  influential  British 
emissary  among  the  tribes  west  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  Indians 
had  taken  the  precaution  to  conceal  the  letters  intrusted  to  them 
in  their  moccasins  and  to  bury  them.575  After  their  release  from 
detention  they  proceeded  on  their  way  and  delivered  them  to 
Dickson,  who  was  passing  the  winter  at  the  Fox- Wisconsin 
Portage.  The  message  which  Captain  Heald  thus  failed  to  inter- 
cept was  from  no  less  a  person  than  General  Brock,  who  was 
seeking  to  establish  communication  with  Dickson;  and  it  was 
due  to  the  communication  thus  established  that  Dickson  led  his 
northwestern  bands  to  St.  Joseph's  to  co-operate  in  the  attack  on 
Mackinac,  and  in  that  descent  upon  Detroit  which  had  such  a 
fatal  effect  upon  Hull's  campaign.576 

We  have  seen  already577  how  that  campaign  progressed  to  its 
disastrous  close,  and  that  on  its  issue  hung  the  fate  of  Fort 
Dearborn  and  the  Northwest.  With  so  much  of  importance  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  Detroit  to  demand  his  attention,  Hull 
had  little  time  or  thought  to  devote  to  the  remote  posts  at 
Mackinac  and  Chicago.  News  of  the  declaration  of  war  was 
received  at  Fort  Dearborn  toward  the  middle  of  July.578  The 
tradition  was  current  at  Chicago  long  afterward  that  the  news 
was  brought  by  Pierre  Le  Claire,  a  half-breed  who  figured  in  the 
negotiations  for  the  surrender  of  the  garrison  on  the  day  of  the 
massacre,  who  walked  from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  River  to 
Fort  Dearborn,  a  distance  of  ninety  miles,  in  a  single  day.579 

On  July  14  Hull  wrote  to  Eustis,  the  Secretary  of  War,  that 
he  would  cause  the  brig,  "  Adams,"  which  had  been  launched  ten 
days  before,  to  be  completed  and  armed  as  soon  as  possible  for 

*»  Edwards,  Life  of  Ninian  Edwards,  333. 

"«  This  conclusion  is  based  on  the  letters,  in  addition  to  those  already  cited,  of  Captain 
Glegg  to  Dickson  printed  in  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  180-82,  193-95,  and  the  com- 
munications between  Glegg  and  Dickson  printed  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XII, 
130-40. 

5"  Supra,  chap.  ix. 

"'  Lieutenant  Helm's  narrative  of  the  massacre  says  July  10. 

s7»Hubbard,  Life,  126-27. 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT  215 

the  purpose  of  supplying  the  posts  of  Mackinac  and  Fort  Dear- 
born with  the  necessary  stores  and  provisions,  if  they  could  be 
obtained  at  Detroit.580  Exactly  two  weeks  later,  however,  two 
Chippewa  Indians  reached  Hull's  camp  at  Sandwich  bringing 
news  of  the  surrender  of  Mackinac.  The  report  seemed  so 
improbable  that  at  first  Hull  refused  to  believe  it,  but  close  ques- 
tioning brought  forth  so  many  circumstantial  details  as  to  remove 
his  doubt.  On  the  same  day,  July  29,  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  "I  shall  immediately  send  an  express  to  Fort  Dearborn 
with  orders  to  evacuate  that  post  and  retreat  to  this  place  or 
Fort  Wayne,  provided  it  can  be  effected  with  a  greater  prospect 
of  safety  than  to  remain.  Captain  Heald  is  a  judicious  officer, 
and  I  shall  confide  much  to  his  discretion."581 

With  the  evacuation  impending,  we  come  upon  some  of  the 
most  important  questions  in  the  history  of  Fort  Dearborn.  The 
nature  of  Hull's  order  for  the  evacuation,  the  demeanor  of  the 
savages  around  the  fort  immediately  prior  to  the  evacuation,  the 
relations  subsisting  between  Captain  Heald  and  the  officers  and 
men  under  his  control,  the  degree  of  sanity  and  sense  displayed 
by  the  commander  in  dealing  with  the  difficult  situation  which 
confronted  him — all  these  things  require  careful  consideration. 
In  the  accounts  of  the  massacre  that  have  been  written  hitherto, 
these  matters  have  commonly  been  presented  in  such  a  way  as  to 
place  the  responsibility  for  the  tragedy  solely  on  Captain  Heald's 
shoulders,  and  to  represent  his  administration  of  affairs  as  stupid 
and  incompetent  to  the  verge  of  imbecility.  But  there  is  abun- 
dant reason  for  suspecting  that  these  accounts,  which  all  proceed, 
directly  or  indirectly  from  a  common  source,  do  Heald  grave 
injustice.582  If  an  examination  of  the  available  sources  of 
information  confirms  this  suspicion  it  is  quite  time,  a  century 
after  the  massacre,  to  correct  the  popular  impression  of  the  affair 
and  do  belated  justice  to  the  leader  of  civilization's  forlorn  hope 
on  that  day  of  savage  triumph. 

»••  Drennan  Papers,  Hull  to  Eustis,  July  14  and  19,  1812. 
*"  Ibid.,  Hull  to  Eustis,  July  29,  1812. 
***  See,  on  this  point,  Appendix  II. 


216  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Hull's  letter  to  Eustis  of  July  29  expressed  an  intention  to 
confide  much  to  Heald's  discretion  in  the  matter  of  the  evacua- 
tion. But  his  letter  to  Heald,  although  written  on  the  same 
day,  does  not  fulfil  this  intention.  The  order  to  evacuate  was 
positive,583  and  the  reason  assigned  for  this  step  was  a  want  of 
provisions.  Heald  was  also  peremptorily  enjoined  to  destroy  the 
arms  and  ammunition.  The  only  thing  confided  to  his  discretion 
was  the  disposition  of  the  goods  of  the  government  factory, 
which  he  was  authorized  to  give  to  the  friendly  Indians,  and  to 
the  poor  and  needy  of  the  settlement. 

Unfortunately  for  Captain  Heald's  reputation  with  posterity, 
the  evacuation  order  was  lost  to  sight  for  almost  a  century. 
Lieutenant  Helm's  labored  account  of  the  massacre,  written  in 
1814,  states  that  the  order  to  Heald  was  "to  Evacuate  the  Post 
of  Fort  Dearborne  by  the  route  of  Detroit  or  Fort  Wayne  if 
Practicable."584  Helm's  narrative,  like  the  evacuation  order,  was 
unknown  to  the  public  for  almost  a  century;  his  version  of  Hull's 
order,  however,  was  preserved  in  the  form  of  tradition  in  the 
family  of  Kinzie,  the  trader,  to  which  Mrs.  Helm  belonged,  and 
thus  after  the  lapse  of  a  third  of  a  century  it  appeared  in  print  in 
Mrs.  Juliette  Kinzie's  account  of  the  massacre585  which  was  after- 
ward incorporated  in  her  book,  Wau  Bun. 

«*»  Lost  to  the  world  for  almost  a  century,  Hull's  order  was  brought  to  light  a  few  years 
since  among  the  Heald  papers  in  the  Draper  Collection  at  Madison,  Wisconsin.  It  was  first 
published  by  the  author  in  "  Some  Notes  on  the  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre,"  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley  Historical  Association,  Proceedings  for  1910-11,  138.  The  order  reads  as  follows: 

SANDWICH  July  zpth  1812 
Capt.  Nat.  Heald. 

Sir: — It  is  with  regret  I  order  the  Evacuation  of  your  Post  owing  to  the  want  of  Provisions  only 
a  neglect  of  the  Commandant  of  [word  illegible-possibly  Detroit]. 

You  will  therefore  Destroy  all  arms  &  ammunition,  but  the  Goods  of  the  Factory  you  may  give 
to  the  Friendly  Indians  who  may  be  desirous  of  Escorting  you  on  to  Fort  Wayne  &  to  the  Poor  & 
needy  of  your  Post.  I  am  informed  this  day  that  Makinac  &  the  Island  of  St.  Joseph  will  be  Evacu- 
ated on  acct  of  the  scarcity  of  Provision  &  I  hope  in  my  next  to  give  you  an  acct.  of  the  Surrender 
of  the  British  at  Maiden  as  I  Expect  600  men  here  by  the  beginning  of  Sept. 

I  am  Sir 
Yours  &c 

Brigadier  Gen.  Hull. 
Addressed;  Capt.  Nathan  Heald,  Commander  Fort  Dearborn  by  Express. 

'•«  Appendix  VI. 

s»5  According  to  Mrs.  Kinzie  the  order  was  "to  evacuate  the  fort,  if  practicable,  and  in 
that  event,  to  distribute  all  the  United  States'  property  contained  in  the  fort,  and  in  the 
United  States'  factory  or  agency,  among  the  Indians  in  the  neighborhood."  Wau  Bun,  162. 


<n^  ^t^c^%^x-A^-  ^*fn»»-  ^ 


GENERAL  HULL'S  ORDER  FOR  THE  EVACUATION  OF 
FORT  DEARBORN 

(By  courtesy  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society) 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT  217 

The  evacuation  order  closed  with  the  expression  by  Hull  of 
the  hope,  destined  never  to  be  realized,  of  being  able  to  announce 
in  his  next  communication  the  surrender  of  the  British  at  Maiden. 
Instead  of  this,  on  August  8  he  abandoned  Sandwich  and  re- 
crossed  the  river  to  Detroit.  The  next  day  the  Indian  runner, 
Winnemac,  delivered  to  Captain  Heald  at  Fort  Dearborn  his 
order  for  the  evacuation.586  Hull  also  sent  word  of  the  intended 
evacuation  to  Fort  Wayne,  ordering  the  officers  there  to  co- 
operate in  the  movement  by  rendering  Captain  Heald  any  infor- 
mation and  assistance  in  their  power.587  In  consequence  of  this 
Captain  William  Wells,  the  famous  Indian  scout,  set  out  for 
Fort  Dearborn  at  the  head  of  thirty  Miami  warriors  to  assist  in 
covering  Heald's  retreat. 

The  days  following  the  ninth  of  August  were,  we  may  well 
believe,  filled  with  care  and  busy  preparation  for  Captain  Heald 
and  all  the  white  people  in  and  around  Fort  Dearborn.  Their 
situation  in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness  was  an  appalling  one, 
well  calculated  to  tax  the  judgment  and  abilities  of  Heald,  on 
whose  wisdom  and  energy  the  fate  of  all  depended,  to  the  utmost. 
Apparently  Kinzie  sought  to  dissuade  Heald  from  obeying  Hull's 
order  to  evacuate.  There  must  be  powerful  reasons  to  justify 
him  in  taking  this  step,  yet  if  sufficiently  convincing  ones 
pertaining  to  the  safety  of  the  garrison  existed,  it  is  clear  that 
Heald  should  have  assumed  the  responsibility  on  the  ground  that 
the  order  had  been  issued  in  ignorance  of  the  facts  of  the  situation 
confronting  the  Fort  Dearborn  garrison. 

There  were  several  reasons  to  be  urged  against  an  evacuation. 
The  fort  was  well  situated  for  defense.  With  the  garrison  at 
hand  it  could  probably  be  held  indefinitely  against  an  attack  by 
Indians  alone,  providing  the  supply  of  ammunition  and  pro- 
visions held  out.  The  surrounding  Indians  outnumbered  the 
garrison  ten  to  one,  it  is  true,  but  success  against  such  odds  when 
the  whites  were  sheltered  behind  a  suitable  stockade  was  not 

«••  Heald's  Journal,  Appendix  III;  his  report  of  the  massacre,  Appendix  IV;  Lieu- 
tenant Helm's  narrative  of  the  massacre,  Appendix  VI. 

*"  Heald's  report,  Appendix  IV;   Brice,  History  of  Fort  Wayne,  206. 


2i8  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

unusual  in  the  annals  of  border  warfare.  The  red  man  possessed 
little  taste  for  besieging  a  fortified  place,  and  if  the  first  assault 
were  beaten  off,  his  lack  both  of  artillery  and  of  resolution  to 
persevere  in  such  a  contest  rendered  his  success  improbable, 
unless  the  odds  were  overwhelmingly  in  his  favor,  or  the  pro- 
visions of  the  besieged  gave  out.  Moreover,  whatever  the  odds 
might  be  at  Fort  Dearborn,  the  probability  of  making  a  success- 
ful defense  behind  the  walls  of  the  stockade  was  immeasurably 
greater  than  it  would  be  in  the  open  country.  Both  Governor 
Edwards  of  Illinois  and  Harrison  of  Indiana  were  vigorous 
executives,  and  if  the  fort  were  held,  relief  might  reasonably 
be  expected  before  long  from  the  militia  which  was  then  be- 
ing collected  in  southern  Illinois  and  Indiana,  or  even  from 
Kentucky. 

The  situation  was  complicated,  too,  by  the  private  interests 
at  stake.  Evacuation  would  mean  financial  ruin  to  Kinzie,  the 
trader,  and  Lee,  the  farmer.  These  considerations  Heald 
properly  ignored  of  course.  But  the  danger  to  the  families  of  the 
soldiers  and  of  the  civilians  clustered  around  the  fort  was  greater 
and  more  appalling  than  to  the  garrison  itself.  There  could  be 
no  thought  of  abandoning  these  helpless  souls,  yet  the  attempt  to 
convey  them  away  with  the  garrison  would  render  the  retreat 
exceedingly  slow  and  cumbersome.  Kinzie  at  Chicago  and 
Forsyth  at  Peoria  were  well  known  and  esteemed  by  the  resi- 
dent natives,  and  many  of  these  were  well  disposed  toward  the 
Americans;  the  hostile  bands  might  be  expected  to  disperse  after 
a  period  of  unsuccessful  siege,  and  the  property  of  the  settlers  and 
the  lives  of  the  garrison  would  be  saved. 

On  the  other  hand,  most  of  these  things  were  as  familiar  to 
Hull  as  to  Heald  himself.  Practically  the  only  feature  of  Heald's 
situation  about  which  Hull's  knowledge  might  be  presumed  to  be 
deficient  was  that  concerning  the  number  and  demeanor  of  the 
Indians  around  Fort  Dearborn.  But  in  the  provision  of  his  order 
authorizing  Heald  to  distribute  the  goods  of  the  factory  "to  the 
Friendly  Indians  who  may  be  desirous  of  escorting  you  on  to 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT  219 

Fort  Wayne  "  was  a  clear  indication  of  the  commanding  general's 
will  in  case  this  contingency  should  be  realized.  Obedience  to 
orders  is  the  primary  duty  of  a  soldier.  He  may  not  refrain  from 
executing  the  order  of  his  superior,  however  ill  advised  it  may 
appear  to  him,  unless  it  is  evident  that  it  was  issued  under  a 
misapprehension  of  the  facts  of  the  situation,  and  that  the  com- 
mander himself,  if  aware  of  these  facts,  would  revoke  it.  The 
truth  of  this  proposition  is  so  obvious  that  it  would  scarcely  be 
worth  while  to  state  it,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  there  has  been 
a  practically  unanimous  chorus  of  condemnation  of  Captain 
Heald  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  hitherto  written  of  the  Fort 
Dearborn  massacre  because  he  acted  in  accordance  with  it  and 
obeyed  his  superior's  order.  Heald's  own  view  of  his  duty  is 
clear,  both  from  the  course  he  followed  and  from  the  narratives  of 
himself  and  of  his  detractors.  The  latter  shows  that  he  paid  no 
attention  to  the  protests  against  the  evacuation  made  by  Kinzie 
and  such  others  as  the  trader  was  able  to  influence;  while  in  his 
own  official  report  of  the  massacre  Heald  does  not  even  discuss 
the  question  of  holding  the  fort  or  of  his  reason  for  evacuating  it, 
further  than  to  recite  the  order  received  from  Hull  to  do  so. 

The  time  until  the  thirteenth  of  August  was  doubtless  spent 
in  preparation  for  the  wilderness  journey,  though  actual  details 
are  for  the  most  part  wanting.  Some  slight  indication  of  the 
commander's  labors  is  afforded  by  an  affidavit  he  made  in  1817 
in  behalf  of  Kinzie  and  Forsyth's  claims  against  the  government 
for  compensation  for  the  losses  sustained  by  them  in  the  massacre. 
In  this  Heald  stated  that,  being  ordered  to  evacuate  Fort  Dear- 
born and  march  the  troops  to  Fort  Wayne,  he  employed  sundry 
horses  and  mules,  with  saddles,  bridles,  and  other  equipment,  the 
property  of  Kinzie  and  Forsyth,  to  transport  provisions  and  other 
necessities  for  the  troops.588  On  August  13  Captain  Wells  arrived 
from  Fort  Wayne  with  his  thirty  Miami  warriors  to  act  as  an 
additional  escort  for  the  troops  in  their  retreat.  Probably  on 
this  day  a  council  was  held  with  the  Indians  at  which  Heald 

i»  Affidavit  of  December  2,  1817,  Draper  Collection,  Forsyth  Papers,  Vol.  I. 


220  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

announced  his  intention  to  distribute  the  goods  among  them 
and  evacuate  the  fort,  and  stipulated  for  their  protection  upon 
his  retreat.589  On  the  fourteenth  the  goods  in  the  factory  were 
delivered  to  the  Indians,  together  with  a  considerable  quantity 
of  provisions  which  could  not  be  taken  along  on  the  retreat. 
The  stock  of  liquor  was  destroyed,  however,  as  were  also  the 
surplus  arms  and  ammunition.  The  one  was  calculated  to  fire 
the  red  man  to  deeds  of  madness,  while  for  the  whites  to  give  him 
the  other  would  have  been  to  furnish  him  with  the  means  for 
their  own  destruction. 

To  the  resentment  kindled  among  the  Indians  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  these  stores  the  immediate  cause  of  the  attack  and 
massacre  on  the  following  day  has  often  been  ascribed.  That 
the  disappointment  of  the  red  man  was  keen  is  self-evident.  Yet 
that  but  for  the  destruction  of  the  powder  and  whisky  there 
would  have  been  no  attack  on  the  garrison  seems  most  improb- 
able. Heald  stated  under  oath  several  years  later  that  prior  to 
the  evacuation  the  Indians  had  made  "much  application"  to  him 
for  ammunition,  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  but  for  the 
destruction  which  took  place  not  a  soul  among  the  whites  would 
have  escaped  the  tomahawk.590 

All  was  now  ready  for  the  departure,  which  was  to  take  place 
on  the  morning  of  the  fifteenth.  At  this  juncture  there  came  to 
the  commander  a  belated  warning.  Black  Partridge,  a  Potta- 
watomie  chief  from  the  Illinois  River,  came  to  him  with  the 
significant  message  that  "linden  birds"  had  been  singing  in 
his  ears  and  they  ought  to  be  careful  on  the  march  they  were 
about  to  make.  At  the  same  time  he  surrendered  his  medal, 

«'»  Heald's  report  does  not  mention  the  holding  of  a  council;  Helm's  narrative  repre- 
sents that  Wells  held  the  council  with  the  Indians.  This  is  probably  correct  as  to  the  main 
fact  that  a  council  was  held,  but  untrue  in  representing  Wells,  rather  than  Heald,  as  the  prin- 
cipal participant  in  it  on  the  part  of  the  whites.  A  few  months  after  the  massacre  the 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Trade  was  initiating  measures  for  recovering  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment indemnity  for  the  goods  of  the  Chicago  factory  destroyed  at  the  time  of  the  massacre 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  delivered  by  Heald  to  the  Indians  "under  a  kind  of  treaty" 
between  the  two  (Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  C,  Mason  to  Matthew  Irwin,  February  9, 1813). 

s»«  Affidavit  of  December  2,  1817,  Draper  Collection,  Forsyth  Papers,  Vol.  I. 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT  221 

explaining  that  the  young  warriors  were  bent  on  mischief  and 
probably  could  not  be  restrained.591 

It  was  now  too  late  to  withdraw  from  the  plan  of  evacuating 
the  fort,  even  if  the  commander  had  desired  to  do  so.  The  next 
morning  dawned  warm  and  cloudless.  Inside  the  stockade  the 
last  preparations  for  the  toilsome  journey  had  been  made.  No 
chronicler  was  present  to  preserve  a  record  of  the  final  scenes, 
but  the  imagination  can  find  little  difficulty  in  picturing  them. 
With  all  its  rudeness  and  privation,  the  Chicago  they  were  leaving 
was  home  to  the  members  of  the  little  party — for  some  the  only 
one  they  had  ever  known.  Here  the  Lees  had  lived  for  half  a 
dozen  years;  here  their  children  had  been  born,  and  had  passed 
their  happy  childhood.  Here  the  Kinzies  had  lived  for  an  even 
longer  time,  and  had  long  since  attained  a  relative  degree  of 
prosperity.  Here  the  soldiers  had  hunted  and  skated  and  fished, 
and  gone  through  their  monotonous  routine  duties  until  they  had 
become  second  nature  to  them.  Here  the  talented  young  Van 
Voorhis  had  dreamed  dreams  and  seen  visions  of  the  teeming  mil- 
lions that  were  to  compose  the  busy  civilization  of  this  region  in 
the  distant  future.  Hither  in  the  spring  of  1811  the  commander 
had  brought  his  beautiful  Kentucky  bride,  the  niece  of  Captain 
Wells;  here,  true  to  her  ancestry,  she  had  fallen  in  love  with  the 
wilderness  life;  and  here,  three  months  before,  her  life  had  been 
darkened  by  its  first  great  tragedy,  the  loss  of  her  first-born  son, 
"born  dead  for  the  want  of  a  skilful  Midwife."  We  may  not  know 
the  thoughts  or  forebodings  that  filled  the  mind  of  each  member 
of  the  little  wilderness  caravan,  but  doubtless  home  was  as  dear, 
and  anxiety  for  the  future  as  keen,  to  the  humbler  members  of 
the  party  as  to  any  of  those  whose  names  are  better  known. 

Without,  in  the  marshes  and  prairies  and  woods  that  stretched 
away  from  the  fort  to  south  and  west  and  north,  the  representa- 

>»  There  are  two  contemporary  versions  of  this  incident;  one  is  contained  in  Lieutenant 
Helm's  narrative  of  the  massacre,  the  other  in  McAfee's  History  of  the  Late  War,  98. 
McAfee's  informant  was  Sergeant  Griffith  of  Heald's  company.  Both  of  the  accounts  are 
very  brief.  They  agree  in  the  main  fact  that  Black  Partridge  gave  the  warning  to  the  inter- 
preter, but  Helm  alone  mentions  the  surrender  of  the  medal. 


222  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

tives  of  arfother  race  were  encamped.  Several  hundred  red 
warriors,  many  of  them  accompanied  by  their  squaws  and 
children,  had  gathered  about  the  doomed  garrison.  For  them, 
doubtless,  the  preceding  days  had  been  filled  with  eager  debate 
and  anticipation.  The  former  had  concerned  the  momentous 
question  whether  to  heed  the  advice  of  the  Americans  to  remain 
neutral  in  the  war  between  the  white  nations,  or  whether  to 
follow  their  natural  inclination  to  raise  the  hatchet  against  the 
hated  Long  Knives  and  in  behalf  of  their  former  Great  Father. 
The  latter  had  hinged  about  the  visions  of  wealth  hitherto 
undreamed  of  to  flow  from  the  distribution  of  the  white  man's 
stores  among  them;  or  about  the  prospect,  equally  pleasing  to 
the  majority,  of  taking  sweet  if  belated  revenge  for  the  long  train 
of  disasters  and  indignities  they  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the 
hated  race  by  the  slaughter  of  its  representatives  gathered  here 
within  their  grasp.  As  day  by  day  the  runners  came  from  the 
Detroit  frontier  with  news  of  the  ebbing  of  lull's  fortunes  and 
with  appeals  from  Tecumseh  to  strike  a  blow  for  their  race,  the 
peace  party  among  them  dwindled,  doubtless,  as  did  the  hope  of 
Hull's  army.  Now,  at  the  critical  moment,  on  the  eve  of  the 
evacuation  when,  if  ever,  the  blow  must  be  struck,  had  come  a 
final  message  from  Tecumseh  with  news  of  Hull's  retreat  to 
Detroit  and  of  the  decisive  victory  of  August  4  over  a  portion  of 
his  troops  at  Brownstown.  With  this  the  die  was  cast,  and  the 
fate  of  the  garrison  sealed.  The  war  bands  could  no  longer  be 
restrained  by  the  friendly  chiefs,  to  whom  was  left  the  role  of 
watching  what  they  could  not  prevent  and  saving  such  of  their 
friends  as  they  might  from  destruction. 

And  now  the  stage  is  set  for  Chicago's  grimmest  tragedy. 
Before  us  are  the  figures  of  her  early  days.  Let  us  pause  a 
moment  to  take  note  of  some  of  the  actors  before  the  curtain  is 
lifted  for  the  drama.  John  Kinzie,  the  trader,  vigorous  and 
forceful  and  shrewd,  with  more  at  stake  financially  than  anyone 
else  in  the  company,  but,  of  vastly  greater  importance,  with  a 
surer  means  of  protection  for  the  lives  of  himself  and  family 
in  the  friendship  of  the  Indians.  Chandonnai,  the  half-breed, 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT  223 

staunch  friend  of  the  Americans,  whom  all  authorities  unite  in 
crediting  with  noble  exertions  to  save  the  prisoners.  The 
friendly  Pottawatomie  chiefs,  Alexander  Robinson,  who  was  to 
pilot  the  Healds  to  safety  at  Mackinac,  and  Black  Partridge,  who 
had  warned  Captain  Heald  of  the  impending  attack,  and  who 
soon  would  save  the  life  of  Mrs.  Helm.  Among  the  hostile 
leaders  were  Black  Bird,  probably  the  son  of  the  chief  who  had 
assisted  the  Americans  in  plundering  St.  Joseph  in  1781;  and 
Nuscotnemeg,  or  the  Mad  Sturgeon,  already  guilty  of  many 
murders  committed  against  the  whites.592  There  were,  of  course, 
many  other  chiefs  of  greater  or  less  degree  and  reputation. 
Then  there  were  the  officers  and  their  wives.  Heald,  the  com- 
mander, old  in  experience  and  responsibility  if  not  in  years;  his 
beautiful  and  spirited  young  wife,  whose  charm  could  stay  the 
descent  of  the  deadly  tomahawk,  and  whose  bravery  extort  the 
admiration  of  even  her  savage  captors;  Lieutenant  Helm  and  his 
young  wife,  who  preferred  to  meet  the  impending  danger  by  the 
side  of  her  husband.  Of  the  younger  men,  Van  Voorhis  and 
Ronan,  the  former  has  left  of  himself  a  winning  picture,  sketched 
in  a  letter  a  fragment  of  which  has  been  preserved  ;593  the  latter  is 
painted  in  the  only  description  we  have  of  him,  in  the  pages  of 
Wau  Bun,  as  brave  and  spirited,  but  rash  and  overbearing  and 
lacking  a  due  sense  of  respect  for  his  superiors  in  age  and  respon- 
sibility. These  faults  of  youth,  if  in  fact  they  existed,  were  soon 
to  be  atoned  by  the  bravery  with  which  he  met  his  fate,  fighting 
desperately  to  the  end. 

Sadder,  however,  than  any  of  these  was  the  situation  of  some 
of  the  humbler  members  of  the  party.  That  a  soldier  and  officer 
should  face  death  with  composure  was  to  be  expected;  that  a 
soldier's  wife  should  brave  danger  by  his  side  was  not  an  unknown 
thing  in  the  annals  of  the  frontier.  But  the  officers'  wives  were 
mounted,  and  whatever  might  happen  on  the  weary  march;  they 
were  certain  to  receive  the  best  care  and  attention  the  resources 
of  the  company  could  afford.  There  were,  too,  in  their  case  no 

»"  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  320;  Washburne,  Edwards  Papers,  57. 
««  For  it  see  pp.  196,  387. 


224  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

children  for  whom  to  provide  or  worry.  But  what  of  the  state 
of  mind  of  those  members  of  the  Chicago  "militia,"  who  in  addi- 
tion to  abandoning  their  homes  were  burdened  with  wives  and 
children,  and  with  inadequate  means  of  providing  for  them  ? 
What  of  Mrs.  Burns  and  Mrs.  Simmons  with  their  babes  of  a  few 
months  and  the  hardships  of  the  march  before  them  ?  What  of 
the  other  mothers'  forebodings  for  their  loved  ones  ?  What  of 
the  wife  of  Fielding  Corbin,  with  the  pangs  of  approaching 
maternity  upon  her  and  the  prospect  of  the  dreary  journey  before 
her  ?  Perhaps  it  was  a  mercy  a  period  was  so  soon  to  be  put  to 
her  trials.  Finally,  what  of  the  innocent  babies  whose  bright 
eyes  were  looking  out,  doubtless,  in  uncomprehending  wonder, 
upon  the  unwonted  scene  of  bustle  and  excitement  around 
them? 

With  them  but  not  of  them  was  William  Wells,  the  famous 
frontier  scout,  the  true  history  of  whose  life  surpasses  fiction.594 
Member  of  a  prominent  Kentucky  family,  the  brother  of  Colonel 
Samuel  Wells  of  Louisville,  he  was  kidnaped  at  an  early  age  by 
the  Indians  and  adopted  into  the  family  of  Little  Turtle,  the 
noted  Miami  chieftain.  He  became  a  noted  warrior  and  fought 
by  the  side  of  his  red  brothers  in  the  campaigns  of  1790  and  1791, 
when  they  defeated  the  armies  of  Harmar  and  St.  Clair.  After- 
ward, whether  because  of  a  belated  consciousness  of  his  true  race 
identity  or  of  the  solicitations  of  his  white  relatives  and  the 
pleading  of  his  beautiful  niece,  Rebekah  Wells,  he  threw  in  his  lot 
with  the  whites.  His  fame  as  a  scout  and  fighter  soon  became  as 
great  among  them  as  it  had  formerly  been  with  the  Indians.  He 
was  a  perfect  master  of  woodcraft  and  of  the  Indian  mode  of 
warfare,  and  as  head  of  a  special  force  of  scouts  he  rendered 
most  efficient  service  in  Wayne's  campaign. 

Perhaps  the  most  notable  tribute  to  his  character  is  the  fact 
that  despite  this  change  of  allegiance  he  continued  to  retain  the 

s»<  On  the  career  of  Wells  see  Kirkland,  Chicago  Massacre,  173-78;  Roosevelt,  Winning 
of  the  West,  IV,  79  ff.;  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  45-46,  56-57;  speech  of  Little  Turtle  in 
American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  583;  letter  of  Governor  Harrison  to  the  War 
Department,  October  3,  1809,  MS  copy  in  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT  225 

esteem  of  his  former  associates;  and  that  in  this  period  of  fierce 
rivalry  between  the  two  races  he  enjoyed  at  one  and  the  same 
time  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  such  men  as  Little  Turtle  on 
the  one  side  and  Anthony  Wayne  and  William  Henry  Harrison 
on  the  other.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Treaty  of  Greenville 
Little  Turtle  made  a  speech  on  behalf  of  the  Indians,  expressing 
his  satisfaction  with  it;  in  the  course  of  which,  adverting  to  the 
subject  of  the  traders,  he  especially  requested  that  Wells  be 
stationed  by  the  government  at  Fort  Wayne  as  resident  inter- 
preter, saying  that  he  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  Indians  as 
fully  as  he  did  that  of  the  whites.  Fort  Wayne  remained  his 
place  of  residence  for  the  remainder  of  his  life  and  during  most  of 
the  time  he  was  serving  in  the  government  Indian  Department. 
In  1807  Nathan  Heald  came  to  Fort  Wayne  as  commander  of 
the  post,  and  here  met  and  wooed  Rebekah,  the  daughter  of 
Samuel,  and  favorite  niece  of  William  Wells.  Now  at  the 
summons  of  love  and  duty,  heedless  of  the  danger  to  himself,  the 
latter  had  hastened  with  his  friendly  Miamis  from  Fort  Wayne  to 
rescue  her  and  assist  in  the  retreat  of  the  garrison.  He  alone  of 
all  the  company,  therefore,  was  present  from  choice  rather  than 
from  necessity.  His  arrival  at  Fort  Dearborn  on  the  thirteenth 
must  have  afforded  the  only  ray  of  cheer  and  hope  which  came  to 
the  settlement  in  this  time  of  trial  and  danger. 

All  preparations  being  complete,  about  nine  o'clock  the 
stockade  gate  was  thrown  open  and  there  issued  forth  the  saddest 
procession  Michigan  Avenue  has  ever  known.595  In  the  lead 
were  a  part  of  the  Miamis,  and  Wells,  their  leader,  alert  and 
watching  keenly  for  the  first  signs  of  a  hostile  demonstration. 
In  due  array  followed  the  garrison,  the  women  and  children  who 
were  able  to  walk,  and  the  Chicago  militia,  the  rear  being  brought 
up  by  the  remainder  of  the  Miamis.  Most  of  the  children,  being 
too  young  to  walk,  rode  in  one  of  the  wagons,  accompanied, 

s»s  The  account  of  the  battle  and  the  massacre  which  follows  is  the  result  of  a  study  of 
all  the  known  available  sources  of  information.  Since  Appendix  II  is  devoted  to  a  con- 
sideration of  the  principal  sources  of  our  knowledge  of  the  massacre,  I  have  deemed  it 
unnecessary  to  cite  my  authority  in  each  instance  for  the  statements  made  here. 


226  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

probably,  by  one  or  more  of  the  women.  Mrs.  Heald  and  Mrs. 
Helm  were  mounted  and  near  or  with  their  husbands,  though 
each  couple  became  separated  early  in  the  combat.  The  other 
women  and  children  were  on  foot  around  the  baggage  wagons, 
which  were  guarded  by  Ensign  Ronan,  Surgeon  Van  Voorhis,  the 
soldiers  who  had  families,  and  the  twelve  Chicago  militia. 

The  route  taken  was  due  south,  parallel  with  the  river  until 
its  mouth  was  reached  and  then  along  the  beach,  not  far,  prob- 
ably, from  the  present  Michigan  Avenue,  for  most  of  the  land  to 
the  east  has  been  filled  in  since  the  beginning  of  modern  Chicago. 
On  the  right  of  the  column  moved  an  escort  of  Pottawatomies. 
Below  the  mouth  of  the  river  began  a  row  of  sand  hills,  or  ridges, 
which  ran  between  the  prairie  and  the  beach,  parallel  to  the  latter 
and  distant  from  it  about  one  hundred  yards.  When  these  were 
reached  the  soldiers  continued  along  the  beach,  while  the 
Pottawatomies  disappeared  behind  the  ridges  to  the  right.  The 
reason  for  this  soon  became  apparent.  When  a  distance  of 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  had  been  traversed  by  the  soldiers  Captain 
Wells,  who  with  his  militia  was  some  distance  in  advance,  dis- 
covered that  the  Indians  had  prepared  an  ambush  for  the  whites 
and  were  about  to  attack  them  from  their  vantage  point  behind 
the  bank.  Aware  of  a  favorable  position  for  defense  a  short 
distance  ahead,  he  rode  rapidly  back  toward  the  main  body  to 
urge  Heald  to  press  forward  and  occupy  it,  swinging  his  hat  in  a 
circle  around  his  head  as  he  went,  as  a  signal  that  the  party  was 
surrounded.  The  heads  of  the  warriors  now  became  visible  all 
along  the  line,  popping  up  "like  turtles  out  of  the  water."  The 
troops  immediately  charged  up  the  bank,  and  with  a  single  volley 
followed  home  with  a  bayonet  charge  scattered  the  Indians  before 
them.  But  this  move  proved  as  futile  as  it  was  brave.  The 
Indians  gave  way  in  front  only  to  join  their  fellows  in  another 
place,  on  the  flank  or  in  the  rear,  and  the  fight  went  on. 

Meanwhile  a  deadlier  combat,  which  we  may  perhaps  think 
of  as  a  separate  battle,  was  raging  around  the  wagons  in  the  rear. 
Here  it  was  that  the  real  massacre  occurred.  Apparently  in  the 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT  227 

charge  up  the  sand  hills  and  in  the  ensuing  movements  the  main 
division  of  the  regulars  under  Heald  became  separated  from  the 
rear  division,  and  yet  it  was  precisely  here,  where  the  provisions 
and  the  helpless  women  and  children  were  placed,  that  protection 
was  most  urgently  needed.  The  Indians,  outnumbering  the 
whites  almost  ten  to  one,  swarmed  around,  some,  apparently, 
even  coming  from  the  front  to  share  in  the  easier  contest  at  this 
point.  Here  were  the  junior  officers,  Ronan  and  Van  Voorhis, 
and  here,  apparently,  Kinzie  had  elected  to  stay.  Around  the 
wagons  too  were  the  militia,  twelve  in  number,  comprising  the 
male  inhabitants  of  the  settlement  capable  of  bearing  arms,  who 
had  been  organized  and  armed  by  Heald  at  the  time  of  the  April 
murders.  The  combat  here  was  furious,  being  waged  hand  to 
hand  in  an  indiscriminate  melee.  Fighting  desperately  with 
bayonet  and  musket-butt  the  militia  were  cut  down  to  a  man. 
But  one,  Sergeant  Burns,  escaped  instant  death,  and  he,  griev- 
ously wounded,  was  slaughtered  an  hour  after  the  surrender  by 
an  infuriated  squaw.  Ronan  and  Van  Voorhis  shared  their  fate 
as  did  the  regular  soldiers,  Kinzie  being  the  only  white  man  at 
the  wagons  who  survived.  Even  the  soldiers'  wives,  armed  with 
swords,  hacked  bravely  away  as  long  as  they  were  able.  In  the 
course  of  the  melee  two  of  the  women  and  most  of  the  children 
were  slain. 

The  butchery  of  these  unfortunate  innocents  constitutes  the 
saddest  feature  of  that  gory  day.  The  measure  which  had  been 
taken  to  insure  their  welfare  was  responsible  for  their  destruction; 
for  while  the  conflict  raged  hotly,  a  young  fiend  broke  through 
the  defenders  of  the  wagons  and  climbing  into  the  one  containing 
the  children  quickly  tomahawked  all  but  one  of  them.  Of  the 
women  slain  one  was  Mrs.  Corbin,  the  wife  of  a  private  soldier, 
who  is  said  to  have  resolved  never  to  be  taken  prisoner,  dreading 
more  than  death  the  indignities  she  believed  would  be  in  store  for 
her.  Accordingly  she  fought  until  she  was  cut  to  pieces.  The 
other  was  Cicely,  Mrs.  Heald's  negro  serving-woman.  She  and 
her  infant  son,  who  also  perished,  afford  two  of  the  few  instances 


228  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

of  which  we  have  authentic  record  of  negroes  being  held  in 
slavery  at  Chicago.596 

While  this  slaughter  was  going  on  at  the  wagons  Captain 
Wells,  who  had  been  fighting  in  front  with  the  main  body  of 
troops,  seems  to  have  started  back  to  the  scene  to  engage  in  a  last 
effort  to  save  the  women  and  children.  His  horse  was  wounded 
and  he  himself  was  shot  through  the  breast.  He  bade  his  niece 
farewell,  when  his  horse  fell,  throwing  him  prostrate  on  the 
ground  with  one  leg  caught  under  its  side.  Some  Indians 
approaching,  he  continued  to  fire  at  them,  killing  one  or  more 
from  his  prostrate  position.  An  Indian  now  took  aim  at  him, 
seeing  which  Wells  signed  to  him  to  shoot,  and  his  stormy  career 
was  ended.  The  foe  paid  their  sincerest  tribute  of  respect  to  his 
bravery  by  cutting  out  his  heart  and  eating  it,  thinking  thus  to 
imbibe  the  qualities  of  its  owner  in  life.  Wells  was  the  real  hero 
of  the  Chicago  massacre,  giving  his  life  voluntarily  to  save  his 
friends.  The  debt  which  Chicago  owes  to  his  memory  an  earlier 
generation  sought  to  discharge  by  giving  his  name  to  one  of  the 
city's  principal  streets.  But  to  its  shame  a  later  one  robbed  him 
in  large  part  of  this  honor,  by  giving  to  that  portion  of  the  street 
which  runs  south  of  the  river  the  inappropriate  and  meaningless 
designation  of  Fifth  Avenue. 

The  close  of  another  brave  career  was  dramatic  enough  to 
deserve  separate  mention.  During  the  battle  Sergeant  Hayes, 
who  had  already  manifested  the  greatest  bravery,  engaged  in 

«»«  The  printed  sources  of  information  concerning  Cicely  and  her  child  are  Darius 
Heald's  narrative  of  the  massacre  in  Magazine  of  American  History,  XXVIII,  1 1 1  ff .,  and  the 
Heald  petition  to  the  Court  of  Claims  for  compensation  for  property  lost  in  the  massacre,  in 
Chicago  Tribune,  December  8,  1883.  The  author  has  a  memorandum  prepared  by  Mrs. 
Heald  for  the  guidance  of  her  son,  Darius,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Chicago  in  1855 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  testimony  in  support  of  the  claim  for  compensation  for  the 
Heald  property  lost  in  the  massacre.  It  contains  the  following  allusions  to  Cicely  and  her 
son:  "John  Kinzie  at  Chicago  ....  he  knew  the  negro  girl  Cicely.  He  came  to  buy  the 
negro  girl  offered  me  $600.  he  probably  knows  about  the  horses  three  in  number.  He 
knows  about  the  negro  woman  being  killed  and  also  her  male  infant  killed  in  the  battle  by 

the  Indians Mrs.  Baubee  [Beaubien] Knew  Capt.  Heald  and  his  wife  and 

the  negroes  and  horses  which  they  had  in  possession  at  the  time  of  the  defeat,     knows  of  the 

killing  of  the  negroes Mrs.  Helium  [Helm] Get  these  two  Ladies  to  relate 

all  their  knowledge  as  regards  the  loss  of  the  two  slaves  the  horses  and  other  personal 
property  in  their  possession " 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT        229 

individual  combat  with  an  Indian.  The  guns  of  both  had  been 
discharged,  when  the  Indian  ran  up  to  him  with  uplifted  toma- 
hawk. Before  the  warrior  could  strike  Hayes  ran  his  bayonet 
into  his  breast  up  to  the  socket,  so  that  he  could  not  pull  it  out. 
In  this  situation,  supported  by  the  bayonet,  the  Indian  toma- 
hawked him,  and  the  foemen  fell  dead  together,  the  bayonet  still 
in  the  red  man's  breast.597 

Meanwhile  what  of  Captain  Heald  and  the  troops  under  his 
immediate  direction  ?  The  Miamis  had  abandoned  the  Ameri- 
cans at  the  first  sign  of  hostilities.  After  a  few  minutes  of  sharp 
fighting  Heald  drew  off  with  such  of  his  men  as  still  survived  to  a 
slight  elevation  on  the  open  prairie,  out  of  shot  of  the  bank  or 
any  other  cover.  Here  he  enjoyed  a  temporary  respite,  for  the 
Indians  refrained  from  following  him,  having  no  desire,  appar- 
ently, to  grapple  with  the  regulars  at  close  range  in  the  open. 
The  fight  thus  far  had  lasted  only  about  fifteen  minutes,  yet  half 
of  the  regulars  had  fallen,  Wells  and  two  of  the  officers  were  dead 
and  the  other  two  wounded,  and  the  Americans  were  hopelessly 
beaten.  The  alternatives  before  them  were  to  die  fighting  to  the 
last,  or  to  surrender  and  trust  to  the  savages  for  mercy.  After 
some  delay  the  Indians  sent  a  half-breed  interpreter,  who  lived 
near  the  fort  and  was  friendly  with  the  garrison,  and  who  in  the 
commencement  of  the  action  had  gone  over  to  the  Indians  in  the 
hope  of  saving  his  life,  to  make  overtures  for  a  surrender.  Heald 
advanced  alone  toward  the  Ind'ans  and  was  met  by  the  inter- 
preter and  the  chief,  Black  Bird,  who  requested  him  to  surrender, 
promising  to  spare  the  lives  of  the  prisoners.  The  soldiers  at  first 
opposed  the  proposition,  but  after  some  parleying  the  surrender 
was  made,  Captain  Heald  promising,  as  a  further  inducement  to 
the  Indians  to  spare  the  prisoners,  a  ransom  of  one  hundred 
dollars  for  every  one  still  living.  The  captives  were  now  led 
back  to  the  beach  and  thence  along  the  route  toward  the  fort 
over  which  they  had  passed  but  an  hour  or  so  before.  On  the 
way  they  passed  the  scene  of  the  massacre  around  the  wagons. 

"1  Schoolcraft,  Narrative  Journal  of  Travels  from  Detroit  .  ...  to  the  Sources  of  the 
Mississippi  River  in  the  Year  1820,  392. 


230  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Helm  records  his  horror  at  the  sight  of  the  men,  women,  and 
children  " lying  naked  with  principally  all  their  heads  off."  In 
passing  the  bodies  he  thought  he  perceived  that  of  his  wife,  with 
her  head  severed  from  her  shoulders.  The  sight  almost  overcame 
him,  and  we  may  readily  believe  that  he  "now  began  to  repent" 
that  he  had  ever  surrendered.  He  was  happily  surprised,  how- 
ever, on  approaching  the  fort  to  find  her  alive  and  well,  sitting 
crying  among  some  squaws.  She  owed  her  preservation  to  the 
friendly  Black  Partridge,  who  had  claimed  her  as  his  prisoner. 

In  the  action  the  white  force  numbered  fifty-five  regulars  and 
twelve  militia  in  addition  to  Wells  and  Kinzie,  the  latter  of  whom 
did  not  participate  in  the  fighting.598  Against  these  were  pitted 
about  five  hundred  Indians.  The  white  men  were  better  armed, 
but  the  Indians  had  the  advantage  of  position  and  of  freedom 
from  the  incumbrance  of  baggage  and  women  and  children  to 
protect.  Under  the  circumstances  the  odds  were  overwhelmingly 
in  their  favor,  and  their  comparatively  easy  victory  was  but  a 
matter  of  course.  Their  loss  was  estimated  by  Heald  at  about 
fifteen.  The  Americans  killed  in  the  action  comprised  twenty- 
six  regular  soldiers,  the  twelve  militia599  and  Captain  Wells,  with 
two  of  the  women  and  twelve  children.  A  number  of  the  sur- 
vivors, too,  were  wounded. 

Following  the  surrender  came  the  customary  scenes  of 
savage  cruelty.  The  friendly  Indians  could  answer  only  for  the 
prisoners  in  their  possession.  Some  of  the  wounded  were 
tortured  to  death,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  some  of  the 
prisoners  were  burned  at  the  stake.  The  more  detailed  story  of 
their  fate,  along  with  that  of  the  other  survivors  of  the  battle,  is 
reserved  for  the  following  chapter.  For  the  remainder  of  the 
day  and  the  ensuing  night  the  victors  surfeited  themselves  with 
the  plunder  and  the  torture.  The  following  day  the  plundering 
of  the  fort  and  the  distribution  of  the  prisoners  were  completed, 
the  buildings  were  fired,  and  the  bands  set  out  for  their  several 

*»•  On  the  number  of  the  regulars  and  others  engaged  in  the  combat  see  Appendix  IX. 
»»» Including  Burns,  who  was  wounded  in  the  action  and  killed  by  a  squaw  about  an 
hour  afterward. 


THE  BATTLE  AND  DEFEAT  231 

villages.  The  corpses  on  the  lake  shore,  bloody  and  mutilated, 
were  left  to  the  buzzards  and  the  wolves,  and  over  Chicago 
silence  and  desolation  reigned  supreme.  In  March,  1813, 
Robert  Dickson  passed  through  Chicago  on  a  mission  to  rouse 
the  northwestern  tribes  against  the  Americans.  He  reported600 
that  there  were  two  brass  cannon,  one  dismounted,  the  other  on 
wheels  but  in  the  river.  The  powder  magazine  was  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation  and  the  houses  outside  the  fort  were  well 
constructed.  He  urged  the  Indians  not  to  destroy  them,  as  the 
British  would  have  occasion  to  use  them  if  they  should  find  it 
necessary  to  establish  a  garrison  here. 

«••  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  262. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS 

Twenty-nine  soldiers,  seven  women,  and  six  children  remained 
alive  at  the  close  of  the  battle  among  the  sand  dunes  to  face  the 
horrors  of  captivity  among  the  Indians.  These  figures  do  not 
include  Kinzie,  the  trader,  and  the  members  of  his  family,  who 
were  regarded  as  neutrals  and  were  not  included  by  the  Indians 
in  the  number  of  their  prisoners.  Concerning  the  fate  of  some 
of  the  survivors  we  have  full  information,  but  of  others  not  even 
the  names  can  be  given  with  certainty,  and  of  their  fate  we  can 
speak  only  in  general  terms. 

The  student  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre  finds  himself 
hampered  by  a  notable  dearth  of  official  records.  This  is  due  hi 
part  to  the  destruction,  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  itself,  of  such 
as  existed  at  Chicago;  to  an  even  greater  extent,  perhaps,  to  the 
destruction  of  the  records  of  the  War  Department  at  the  time  of 
the  looting  of  the  Capital  by  the  British  in  1814.  Finally,  by  a 
departmental  ruling  promulgated  in  1897,  the  historical  inves- 
tigator has  in  recent  years  been  denied  the  cold  comfort  of  access 
to  such  fragmentary  records  as  do  in  fact  exist  in  the  files  of  the 
War  Department.601  For  such  official  documents  as  have  been 
available  for  this  study,  therefore,  the  writer  is  indebted  to  other 
sources.  Some  of  them  were  copied  by  earlier  investigators  in 
the  field,  before  the  War  Department  files  were  sealed  to  the 
student,  and  have  been  printed  in  various  places.  Others  have 
been  found  in  manuscripts  or  in  printed  works  existing  outside 
the  government  archives. 

The  last  existing  muster-roll  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  garrison 
prior  to  the  massacre  has  hitherto  been  supposed  to  be  that  for 

'•«  This  prohibition  was  removed  in  1912,  too  late,  however,  to  be  of  any  advantage  to 
the  author  in  the  preparation  of  this  work.  For  this  reason  the  statements  made  have  been 
allowed  to  stand  unchanged. 

232 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  233 

December,  iSio.602  However,  the  Heald  papers  belonging  to  the 
Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society  include  the  muster-roll  for  the 
period  ending  May  31,  I&I2.603  It  shows  a  garrison  strength  of 
fifty-five  men,  which  was  probably  the  number  present  at  the 
time  of  the  massacre.  No  list  of  those  slain  in  the  massacre  has 
ever  been  made,  nor  is  there  any  comprehensive  account  of  the 
names  and  fate  of  the  survivors.  The  attempt  to  construct 
one604  from  the  various  fragmentary  sources  of  information  in 
existence  has  proved  more  successful  than  could  perhaps  have 
been  reasonably  anticipated.  Yet  it  reveals  certain  discrep- 
ancies which  cannot  be  harmonized  until  additional  sources  of 
information  shall  be  uncovered.  This  is  not  surprising  in  view 
of  the  confusion  attendant  upon  the  massacre,  and  the  scattering 
far  and  wide  of  the  survivors  following  it.  The  passage  of  time 
and  the  absence  of  records  make  it  impossible  at  this  date  to 
check  up  the  errors  and  fill  in  the  gaps  in  our  information.  The 
hardships  endured  or  the  adventures  encountered  by  those  whose 
experiences  have  been  recorded  may  have  been  no  greater  or 
more  noteworthy  than  by  those  whose  fate  is  now  buried  in 
oblivion.  Yet  the  historian  must  deal  with  the  information  he 
can  obtain,  and  this  chapter  of  necessity  concerns  itself  largely 
with  a  comparatively  small  number  of  the  survivors  whose  story 
has  been  preserved. 

The  battle  and  the  massacre  proper  had  barely  ended  when 
the  dreary  work  of  torture  began.  It  had  been  stipulated  by 
Captain  Heald  that  the  lives  of  the  prisoners  should  be  spared, 
but  this  agreement  was  promptly  violated.  We  cannot  speak 
with  much  assurance  of  the  details  of  the  tortures,  but  concerning 
the  main  fact  there  is  no  doubt.  One  man,  Burns,  who  had  been 
wounded  in  the  battle,  was  killed  by  a  squaw  about  an  hour  after 
its  conclusion.605  Possibly  this  is  the  man  whom  Mrs.  Helm 

«•«  Printed  in  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  88. 

«•»  The  muster-roll  is  printed  for  the  first  time  as  Appendix  VIII. 

•M  For  it  see  Appendix  IX. 

«••  Letter  of  Sergeant  Griffith  to  Heald,  January  13,  1820,  Draper  Collection,  U,  VIII, 
88;  Judge  Woodward  to  Proctor,  October  7,  1812,  Appendix  VII. 


234  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

refers  to  as  having  been  stabbed  to  death  with  a  stable  fork  in  her 
presence.606  In  Judge  Woodward's  letter  to  General  Proctor 
upon  the  survivors  of  the  massacre,  Burns  is  spoken  of  as  a 
"citizen,"  and  he  is  similarly  designated  in  Helm's  account  of  the 
massacre.  A  letter  of  Sergeant  Griffith  to  Captain  Heald  in 
1820  clears  up  the  question  of  his  identity.607  It  shows  that  he 
was  a  sergeant  in  the  Chicago  militia,  enrolled  by  Heald  after  the 
murders  at  the  Lee  farm  in  April,  1812.  It  confirms  the  fact  of 
his  death  at  the  hands  of  his  captors  after  the  surrender,  and 
incidentally  throws  a  pleasing  light  upon  his  character,  recalling 
to  Heald's  mind  "  the  Soldierlike  conduct  of  ....  Burns  while 
engaged  with  an  unequal  force  of  Savages,  and  the  manner  in 
which  he  was  inhumanly  murdered  (hi  your  presence)  after  he 
was  a  prisoner."  The  Wau  Bun  narrative  represents  the  Burns 
family  as  living  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  river  some  distance  above  the  Kinzie  house.608  Apparently 
Burns  was  a  discharged  soldier  who  had  made  Chicago  his  per- 
manent home,  for  the  Fort  Dearborn  muster-roll  for  November, 
1 8 10,  shows  that  he  was  then  a  member  of  the  garrison  and  that 
his  term  of  enlistment  would  expire  in  June,  1811. 

The  various  accounts  generally  agree  that  a  number  of  the 
prisoners  were  put  to  death  during  the  night  following  the 
massacre.  Judge  Woodward's  letter  to  Proctor,  which,  written 
October  7,  1812,  and  based  on  information  given  by  Heald  and 
Sergeant  Griffith,  is  the  most  reliable  source  of  information  on 
this  particular  point,  states  that  five  soldiers  were  known  to  have 
been  put  to  death  at  this  time.  The  Wau  Bun  narrative, 
written  many  years  later,  makes  the  same  statement.  The 
Darius  Heald  narrative  states  that  the  Indians  were  believed  to 
have  gone  off  down  the  lake  shore  on  the  evening  of  the  massacre 
day  to  have  a  "general  frolic,"  torturing  the  wounded  soldiers. 
Woodward  gives  the  names  of  two  of  these  victims,  Richard 
Garner  and  James  Latta,  both  private  soldiers.  By  a  process  of 
comparison  of  all  the  sources  concerning  those  who  perished  in 

6o«  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  176. 

'»'  Cited  supra,  note  605.  '•«  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  155,  159. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  235 

captivity  we  get  the  names  of  the  other  three,  Micajah  Denison, 
John  Fury,  and  Thomas  Poindexter.609  But  one  account  at- 
tempts to  tell  us  how  they  died,  and  this,  of  more  than  dubious 
validity,  suggests  rather  than  describes  their  fate.  A  half-breed 
Frenchwoman,  who  had  remained  in  her  hut  on  the  north  side  of 
the  river  during  the  battle  and  massacre,  made  her  way  after  its 
conclusion  to  a  point  opposite  the  Indian  village  north  of  the  fort. 
Here  she  could  see  the  "torture  ground"  where  the  squaws  had 
three  men,  and  the  warriors  one  white  woman,  undergoing  the 
most  fearful  torture  and  indignities,  "such  as  she  had  never 
heard  of  in  Canada."610  Perhaps  after  all  it  is  just  as  well  that 
we  have  no  more  detailed  description.  The  fate  of  the  victims 
was  no  more  awful  than  that  customarily  meted  out  to  the  van- 
quished white  man  in  the  course  of  his  contest  with  the  red  man 
for  the  possession  of  this  continent  and  it  is  better  that  the  gory 
details  should  sink  into  oblivion. 

On  the  day  after  the  massacre,  the  fort  having  been  burned 
and  the  plunder  and  the  prisoners  divided,  the  bands  began  to 
scatter  to  their  various  homes.  The  dreary  story  of  the  hard- 
ships endured  by  the  captives  and  the  indignities  and  cruelties 
meted  out  to  them  by  their  masters  is  relieved,  happily,  now  and 
then  by  some  act  of  kindness  or  generosity  calculated  to  prove 
that  gentleness  and  humanity  were  qualities  not  entirely  un- 
known, even  to  the  savage  red  man.  Ultimately  the  majority 
of  the  prisoners  were  to  find  their  way  back  to  civilization,  but 
for  several  death  offered  the  only  avenue  of  escape  from  their 
captivity.  For  some,  indeed,  death  must  have  come  as  a  wel- 
come relief  from  sufferings  far  more  dreadful. 

Such  must  have  been  the  case  with  Mrs.  Needs,  the  wife  of 
one  of  the  soldiers.  Her  husband,  her  child,  and  herself  all  sur- 
vived the  massacre,  only  to  die  in  captivity.  The  husband  died 
in  January,  1813;  the  brief  record  left  us  contains  no  indication 
of  the  cause  of  his  death.6"  Annoyed  by  the  crying  which 

'•»  For  the  way  in  which  these  names  are  determined  see  Appendix  IX. 
•io  Head  Papers,  in  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 
<"'  Niles'  Register,  June  4   1814. 


236  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

hunger  forced  from  the  child,  the  savages  tied  it  to  a  tree  to 
perish  of  starvation  or  to  become  the  prey  of  some  wild  beast. 
Still  later  the  wretched  mother  perished  from  cold  and  hunger. 
Another  prisoner,  William  Nelson  Hunt,  was  frozen  to  death.612 
Hugh  Logan,  an  Irishman,  unable  to  walk  because  of  excessive 
fatigue,  was  tomahawked;  such,  also,  was  the  fate  of  August 
Mortt,  a  German,  and  for  a  similar  reason.613 

With  relief  we  turn  from  these  tragic  details  to  the  story  of 
the  efforts  which  were  making  to  restore  the  captives  to  civiliza- 
tion. On  September  9  Proctor  communicated  to  General  Brock 
the  news  of  the  massacre  at  Fort  Dearborn,  expressing  regret  over 
its  occurrence  and  denying  that  the  British  had  known  anything 
of  the  intended  attack,  or  that  the  superintendent  of  the  Indian 
Department  had  any  influence  over  the  Indians.614  At  the  time 
of  writing  this  letter  Proctor  believed  that  Captain  Heald  and  his 
wife  and  Kinzie  were  the  only  survivors  of  the  massacre,  and  no 
suggestion  was  made  by  him  of  measures  for  the  relief  of  the 

«"  Niks'  Register,  June  4,  1814.  The  name  is  printed  as  Nelson;  it  does  not  occur  in 
any  of  the  other  accounts  of  the  massacre,  nor  on  the  muster-roll  of  Heald's  company  of 
May  31,  1812.  The  latter  does  contain  the  name  of  William  Nelson  Hunt,  however,  and 
he  is  probably  the  man  designated  as  Nelson  in  the  newspaper  account. 

'•»  The  following  letter  written  by  Thomas  Forsyth  to  Nathan  Heald,  April  10,  1813, 
suggests  a  different  reason  for  the  killing  of  Mortt.  The  letter  is  reproduced  in  full  for  the 
sake  of  the  information  it  gives  concerning  the  massacre  and  the  affairs  of  some  of  the 
participants  in  it.  The  original  manuscript  is  the  property  of  Mrs.  Lillian  Heald  Richmond, 
of  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

ST.  Louis  xoth  April  1813. 

SIR:  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  from  the  hand  of  Gov.  Howard,  your  letter  to  him  of  the  24th 
February  last,  in  answer  to  his  to  you  respecting  Kinzie  &  Forsyth  Claims  for  losses  sustained  ist 
August  at  Chicago,  in  your  letter  you  mention  that  you  gave  Mr.  Kinzie  a  quantity  of  gunpowder  for 
hire  of  horses  to  carry  provisions,  &c  to  Detroit,  in  that  case,  the  gunpowder  was  from  you  to  us,  for 
hire  of  horses  for  public  use  and  of  course  the  gunpowder  became  our  property,  after  the  delivery  of 
the  gunpowder  to  Mr.  Kinzie,  I  understood  from  him  (K-)  that  either  you  or  the  late  Captain  Wells, 
and  perhaps  both,  told  him,  that  if  he,  (K)  would  destroy  all  his  gunpowder  and  Whiskey,  that  he 
should  be  paid  for  his  losses  by  the  U.  States  all  of  which  was  certainly  destroyed;  in  your  letter  to 
Gov.  Howard,  you  say  you  seen  the  Whiskey  destroyed  and  that  you  have  no  doubt  but  the  gunpowder 
was  also  destroyed;  In  that  case  I  would  thank  you  if  you  would  forward  on  to  me  at  this  place,  a 
certificate  of  what  you  know  about  the  destruction  of  those  articles,  also  the  prices  of  gunpowder, 
Whiskey,  mules  &  horses,  at  Chicago.  I  have  claimed  for  each  horse  $60 — Mules  $90 — Whiskey  $2 
per  gallon,  gunpowder  $2  per  Ib.  this  you  know  was  the  current  price  for  Whiskey  and  Gunpowder;  I 
paid  myself,  this  price  for  Gunpowder  bought  out  of  the  Factory  of  that  place,  as  for  the  horses  and 
Mules  they  are  by  no  means  high;  our  losses  in  horn  cattle,  hogs,  merchandise  &c  are  very  great  for 
which  we  demand  nothing  for.  Depain  and  Buisson  wintered  at  Chicago  last  winter  with  goods  from 
Mackinaw,  they  have  bought  of[fl  Mrs.  Leigh  and  her  younger  child,  and  another  woman  which  I 
expect  is  Mrs.  Cooper  or  Burns,  Old  Mott  was  a  prisoner,  and  became  out  of  his  head  last  Winter 
and  was  killed  by  the  Indians. 

Please  give  my  respects  to  Mrs.  Heald. 

And  Remain  your  most  Obedt  Servt 

T.  FORSYTH 

4i«  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  144. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  237 

captives.  Soon,  however,  Captain  and  Mrs.  Heald  and  Sergeant 
Griffith  reached  Detroit,  bringing  information  that  nearly  half  of 
the  garrison  and  a  number  of  women  and  children  were  captives 
among  the  Indians.  Detroit  and  Michigan  being  in  the  hands 
of  the  British,  in  the  absence  of  any  official  representative  of  the 
American  government  Judge  Woodward  assumed  the  duty  of 
procuring  the  initiation  of  measures  for  the  relief  of  the  prisoners. 
On  the  strength  of  the  information  furnished  by  Heald  and 
Griffith  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Proctor,  representing  that  over 
thirty  Americans  had  been  taken  by  the  Indians.615  He  urged 
that  immediate  measures  be  taken  for  their  relief,  suggesting  the 
sending  a  special  messenger  overland  to  Chicago,  charged  with  the 
duty  of  collecting  the  captives  who  still  survived  and  information 
of  those  who  had  perished,  and  supplied  with  the  means  of  convey- 
ing the  former  to  either  Detroit  or  Mackinac.  He  further  urged 
that  Captain  Roberts,  the  commander  at  Mackinac,  be  instructed 
to  co-operate  in  the  efforts  to  rescue  the  Americans,  and  assured 
Proctor  that  the  funds  necessary  for  the  work  would  be  repaid 
either  by  the  American  government  or  by  private  individuals. 

In  consequence  of  this  bold  and  manly  appeal,  tardy  measures 
were  instituted  by  Proctor  which  resulted  in  the  rescue  of  a  num- 
ber of  the  captives.  Woodward  was  assured  that  all  possible 
measures  would  be  taken  to  secure  their  release,  and  two  weeks 
later  Proctor,  in  reporting  the  correspondence  to  his  superior, 
announced  that  the  chiefs  of  the  tribe  concerned  in  the  massacre 
had  been  informed  of  his  desire  that  the  captives  be  brought  to 
him.616  Weeks  passed,  however,  and  it  was  not  until  the  depar- 
ture of  Robert  Dickson  for  the  West  in  February,  1813,  that  any 
active  measures  were  taken  to  recover  them. 

Dickson,  as  we  have  already  seen,617  had  led  a  motley  band  of 
northwestern  Indians  to  the  assault  on  Mackinac  in  the  summer 

6<s  The  original  draft  of  this  letter  is  printed  in  Appendix  VII;  the  statements  in  the 
text  are  based  on  the  letter  as  actually  sent.  This  differed  in  some  respects  from  the 
rough  draft. 

«'« Proctor  to  Woodward,  October  10,  1812,  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  163; 
Proctor  to  Evans,  October  28,  1812,  ibid.,  172. 
61 » Supra,  p.  214. 


238  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

of  1812.  In  November  he  proceeded  to  Montreal  and  Quebec 
to  lay  before  the  authorities  there  a  plan  he  had  conceived  for  se- 
curing the  active  co-operation  of  the  northwestern  tribes  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  against  the  Americans.618  He  proposed 
that  large  stores  of  supplies  be  sent  to  Chicago  and  Green  Bay 
in  the  spring  of  1813,  which  points  were  the  most  convenient  for 
rendezvous.  He  himself,  if  given  the  necessary  authority  and 
assistance,  would  proceed  by  way  of  Detroit  and  Chicago  to  the 
Mississippi  and  collect  the  warriors  at  these  points,  whence  they 
could  be  led  to  the  seat  of  war  around  Detroit  in  time  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  operations  of  1813. 

This  plan  was  accepted  by  the  military  authorities  and  Dick- 
son  set  out  for  the  West.  On  February  15  he  was  at  Sandwich 
and  a  month  later  was  among  the  Pottawatomies  of  St.  Joseph.619 
Here  he  was  informed  that  the  Fort  Dearborn  captives  still  in 
the  hands  of  the  Indians  numbered  seventeen  men,  four  women, 
and  several  children.  He  at  once  took  steps  to  secure  them,  and 
expressed  confidence  that  he  would  succeed  in  getting  them  all. 
On  March  22  he  was  at  Chicago,  and  here  penned  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  fort  to  which  reference  has  been  made  in  a  preced- 
ing chapter.620  From  this  point  he  hastened  on  toward  the 
Mississippi.  Early  in  June  he  was  back  at  Mackinac  at  the  head 
of  six  hundred  warriors,  and  in  addition  to  these  he  reported  the 
dispatch  of  eight  hundred  by  land  to  Detroit.621  That,  in  the 
face  of  such  exertions  as  these  achievements  imply,  he  should 
have  found  any  time  to  bestow  on  the  Fort  Dearborn  captives, 
speaks  well  for  both  his  energy  and  his  humanity. 

Apparently  in  the  press  of  other  matters  Dickson  neglected 
to  report  further  as  to  his  measures  for  the  relief  of  the  captives. 
In  May,  1814,  however,  nine  surviving  members  of  the  Fort 
Dearborn  garrison  arrived  at  Plattsburg,  New  York,  from 
Quebec.622  The  story  they  told  was  that  after  the  massacre  they 

611  For  Dickson's  project  see  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  180-82,  202-4,  208-11, 
t 16-21  et  passim. 

'"Ibid.,  XV,  250,  258.  '"  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  321-23. 

6"  Supra,  p.  631.  '"  Niks'  Register,  June  4,  1814. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  239 

had  been  taken  to  the  Fox  River  country  and  there  distributed 
among  the  Indians  as  servants.  In  this  situation  they  remained 
about  nine  months,  when  they  were  brought  to  Chicago,  where 
they  were  purchased  by  a  "French  trader"  acting  under  the 
instructions  of  General  Proctor.  Doubtless  the  "trader"  was 
Dickson,  whose  arrival  at  Chicago,  March  22,  1813,  falls  in  the 
ninth  month  after  the  massacre.  From  Chicago  the  captives 
were  sent  on  to  Amherstberg,  or  Maiden,  and  thence  to  Quebec, 
where  they  arrived  November  8,  1813. 

The  names  of  the  nine  men  who  were  thus  restored  to  their 
countrymen  almost  two  years  after  the  massacre  deserve  a  place 
in  our  narrative.  They  were  James  Van  Horn,  Dyson  Dyer, 
Joseph  Noles,  Joseph  Bowen,  Paul  Grummo,  Nathan  Edson, 
Elias  Mills,  James  Corbin,  and  Fielding  Corbin.  With  the 
exception  of  Grummo,  no  record  has  been  found  of  the  further 
career  of  these  men.  His  story,  written  down  over  four  score 
years  after  the  massacre,  possesses  considerable  interest,  and 
contains,  moreover,  certain  details  not  preserved  elsewhere. 

In  later  life  Grummo,  or  De  Garmo,  as  he  seems  to  have  been 
known,  settled  at  Maumee  City,  a  few  miles  from  Toledo,  Ohio. 
Here  on  a  small  reservation  in  the  early  thirties  was  the  gathering- 
place  and  council  house  of  the  surviving  remnants  of  the  Potta- 
watomie,  Wyandot,  and  other  tribes.  Here,  too,  gathered 
various  traders,  among  others  Robert  Forsyth,  and  James 
Wolcott,  whose  brother,  Alexander,  was  Indian  agent  at  Chicago 
until  his  death  in  1830.  From  1837  until  about  the  year  1841 
Charles  A.  Lamb,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  preservation 
of  the  story,  was  the  nearest  neighbor  of  Grummo  at  Maumee 
City.623  He  describes  him  as  a  tall,  well-built  man,  who  always 
insisted  that  he  was  a  participant  in  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre. 

As  Lamb  remembered  his  story,  Grummo  represented  that  he 
was  employed  as  a  scout  in  the  summer  of  1812,  carrying  dis- 
patches between  Fort  Dearborn  and  Fort  Wayne.  After  the 
battle  he  was  adopted  by  a  chief  whose  son  he  had  killed  in  the 

6«  Letter  of  Charles  A.  Lamb,  August  24,  1893,  MS  in  Chicago  Historical  Society 
library. 


240  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

contest.  His  new-found  father  took  him,  in  company  with 
others,  in  a  northwesterly  direction.  After  traveling  many  days, 
they  crossed  the  Mississippi  above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  the 
object  of  their  journey  being  to  induce  the  tribes  to  join  them  in 
the  war  against  the  Americans.  Returning  from  this  mission, 
Grummo's  captors  sold  him  to  the  British  at  Detroit,  "or  some- 
where around  there."  By  them  he  was  taken  to  Louisburg 
where  he  was  kept  till  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  found  his  way 
to  New  York. 

Such,  in  brief,  was  Grummo's  story  as  recorded  by  Lamb  a 
half-century  after  he  had  heard  it.  In  some  respects  it  is  per- 
plexing, and  many  of  its  details  are  untrustworthy.  There  is 
no  reason  to  question  Lamb's  sincerity.  He  frankly  admits  his 
liability  to  error  in  telling  it  after  the  lapse  of  so  great  a  time.  It 
is  evident,  too,  that  Grummo  drew  a  long  bow  in  relating  his  own 
experiences.  This,  however,  is  so  common  a  characteristic  of 
old  soldiers'  stories  that  it  need  occasion  no  particular  surprise. 
Lamb  further  records  that  though  Grummo,  whose  story  he  has 
related  only  briefly,  added  many  things  to  prove  his  veracity,  yet 
he  was  never  able  to  secure  a  pension.  Both  General  Cass  and 
General  John  E.  Hunt  exerted  their  influence  in  his  behalf,  but  on 
the  records  of  the  War  Department  he  had  been  set  down  as 
a  deserter,  and  this  charge  could  not  be  disproved. 

The  fortunes  of  the  officers,  Heald  and  Helm,  and  their 
wives,  may  be  followed  with  less  difficulty,  though  even  here 
we  encounter  at  times  perplexing  contradictions.  The  Indians 
who  secured  possession  of  Captain  Heald  and  his  wife  at  the 
close  of  the  battle  belonged  to  different  bands.  Owing  to 
the  entreaties  of  Mrs.  Heald,  however,  and  the  efforts  of  Chan- 
donnai,  the  two  were  brought  together.624  On  the  day  after 
the  battle  their  captors  set  out  with  them  for  the  St.  Joseph 
River,  coasting  around  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan  in 

«"  The  details  as  to  Chandonnai's  agency  in  the  matter  vary  somewhat  in  the  different 
accounts;  it  is  clear  that  he  exerted  his  influence,  whether  by  purchasing  Mrs.  Heald  from 
her  captives  or  otherwise,  to  bring  the  Captain  and  his  wife  together,  and  that  the  Healds 
afterward  regarded  him  in  the  light  of  a  benefactor. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  241 

a  canoe.625  The  trip  consumed,  according  to  Heald's  journal, 
three  days,  although  the  distance  is  only  about  one  hundred 
miles. 

Practically  the  only  details  recorded  of  this  journey  are  con- 
tained in  the  narrative  of  Darius  Heald  to  Kirkland  in  1892. 
That  these  details,  based  on  second-hand  information  and  written 
down  at  so  late  a  date,  cannot  be  relied  upon  is  obvious.  Yet 
they  are  of  sufficient  interest  to  merit  inclusion  here.  Both 
Heald  and  his  wife  were  badly  wounded,  the  former  being  shot  in 
the  thigh  and  through  the  right  forearm,  and  the  latter  having 
a  half-dozen  wounds  in  all,  no  one  of  which,  apparently,  was 
dangerous.  After  the  party  had  traveled  for  many  hours  around 
the  end  of  the  lake  a  young  deer  was  seen,  coming  down  to  the 
water  in  a  clump  of  bushes  to  get  a  drink.  The  travelers  drew 
close  to  the  shore  and  the  deer  was  shot  by  an  Indian.  They 
then  pitched  camp  and  dressed  the  animal.  Using  the  hide  as  a 
kneading  board  Mrs.  Heald  stirred  some  flour  which  they  had 
brought  along  in  a  leather  bag  into  a  stiff  paste  which  she  wound 
around  sticks  and  toasted  over  the  fire.  Captain  Heald  after- 
ward declared  that  this  was  the  best  bread  he  ever  ate. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  which  was  reached  on  August 
19,  the  party  halted.  The  Healds  were  permitted  to  stay  in  the 
house  of  Burnett,  the  trader,  and  their  wounds  were  dressed  and 
given  medical  attention  by  an  Indian  doctor.626  After  a  few  days 
most  of  the  Indians  trooped  off  to  participate  in  the  attack  on 
Fort  Wayne.  In  their  absence  an  avenue  of  escape  opened  to 
the  captives.  A  friendly  Indian,  Alexander  Robinson,  was  pre- 
vailed upon  to  conduct  them  to  Mackinac  in  his  birch-bark  canoe. 

««The  principal  sources  for  the  captivity  of  the  Healds  are  the  following:  Heald's 
official  report  of  the  massacre  (Appendix  IV);  his  Journal  (Appendix  III);  the  Heald 
papers  in  the  Draper  Collection;  the  Darius  Heald  narrative  of  the  massacre  as  reported, 
first,  to  Lyman  C.  Draper  (Appendix  V);  and  second,  to  Joseph  Kirkland  (Magazine  of 
American  History,  XXVIII,  111-22).  A  brief  account  gained  from  Sergeant  Griffith,  the 
companion  of  the  Healds  until  they  reached  Pittsburgh,  is  contained  in  McAfee,  History  of 
the  Late  War,  100-101. 

"6  Among  the  Heald  papers  in  the  Draper  Collection  is  a  certificate  of  Captain  Heald 
"on  honor"  that  he  paid  ten  dollars  to  an  Indian  for  attendance  and  medicine  while  sick  of 
his  wounds  at  the  St.  Joseph  River. 


242  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

He  was  assisted  by  his  squaw  and,  possibly,  by  one  or  two  half- 
breeds,  and  for  the  service  Heald  paid  him  one  hundred  dollars. 

The  distance  to  Mackinac  was  three  hundred  miles  along  the 
eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  the  journey  consumed 
sixteen  days.  The  treatment  accorded  to  the  fugitives  by  Cap- 
tain Roberts  on  their  arrival  there  forms  one  of  the  bright  spots 
in  the  story  of  the  wearisome  captivity.  He  extended  them 
every  kindness  within  his  power  to  render  their  condition  as 
comfortable  as  possible.  Both  Captain  Heald  and  Captain 
Roberts  were  Masons,  and,  as  Mrs.  Heald  told  the  story  in  after- 
years,  they  retired  to  a  private  room  together,  when  Heald  told 
his  story  and  asked  for  help  and  for  protection  from  the  Indians, 
who,  he  feared,  were  in  pursuit  of  him.  Roberts  felt  doubtful  of 
his  ability  to  protect  the  fugitives,  but  Heald  was  given  his  parole 
and  permission  to  proceed  to  Detroit.  Sergeant  Griffith  was 
permitted  to  attend  him,  and  Heald  agreed  to  deliver  him  up  to 
the  British  officer  in  command  upon  reaching  Detroit.  It  is  of 
interest  to  note  that  one  of  the  witnesses  of  Heald 's  parole  was 
Robert  Dickson,  the  vigilant  and  enterprising  foe  of  the  Ameri- 
cans in  the  Northwest.  Probably  due  to  the  influence  of  Captain 
Roberts,  the  captives  secured  passage  to  Detroit  on  a  small  sail- 
boat, paying  to  Robert  Irwin,  the  master,  seventeen  dollars  for 
their  transportation  thither.  Before  parting  from  Captain 
Roberts  the  latter  took  out  his  pocket-book  and  urged  Heald  to 
help  himself,  saying  he  might  repay  the  money  if  he  ever  reached 
home;  if  not  it  would  not  matter.  It  was  not  necessary  to 
accept  the  generous  offer,  however,  for  before  the  evacuation 
Mrs.  Heald  had  taken  the  precaution  to  sew  a  sum  of  money  in 
her  husband's  underclothing,  and  this  he  had  succeeded  in  retain- 
ing when  stripped  of  his  uniform  by  his  captors. 

On  reaching  Detroit  at  the  close  of  September,  Heald  reported 
to  General  Proctor  and  was  permitted  by  him  to  rejoin  his 
countrymen.  Griffith,  also,  was  allowed  to  continue  to  attend 
him  "  to  the  U.  States,"  on  Heald's  promise  to  do  all  in  his  power 
to  prevent  his  serving  in  arms  against  the  British  until  regularly 
exchanged.  The  party  left  Detroit  October  4  for  Buffalo,  to 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  243 

which  place  they  had  been  provided  with  transportation  by 
Proctor.  Curiously  enough  the  vessel  which  bore  them  was  the 
"Adams,"  Kingsbury's  erstwhile  "navy  of  the  lakes,"  which  had 
often  journeyed  to  Chicago  on  friendly  missions  during  the  life 
of  the  first  Fort  Dearborn.  In  July  Hull  had  attempted  to  fit  it 
out  for  one  more  trip  to  carry  provisions  to  Mackinac  and  Fort 
Dearborn.  The  successful  execution  of  this  project  might  have 
rendered  Heald's  present  journey  unnecessary.  With  the  cap- 
ture of  Detroit  the  "Adams"  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
British,  and,  as  a  British  vessel,  bore  the  defeated  commander  to 
Buffalo.  From  Buffalo  the  party  journeyed  by  land  to  Erie,  and 
thence  by  water  to  Pittsburgh,  which  was  reached  October  22. 
The  movements  of  Griffith  from  this  time  are  unrecorded.  The 
Healds  remained  here  sixteen  days,  during  which  time  the 
commander  wrote  his  official  report  of  the  massacre  and  of  his 
subsequent  movements.  Resuming  their  journey  down  the  Ohio 
on  November  8  they  reached  Louisville,  the  girlhood  home  of 
Mrs.  Heald,  eleven  days  later.  In  their  captivity  and  flight 
three  months  of  time  had  been  consumed,  and  a  circuit  of  nearly 
two  thousand  miles  had  been  traversed,  almost  all  of  it  by  water, 
much  of  the  way  in  a  canoe  or  open  boat.627  The  distance  from 
Chicago  to  Louisville  by  rail  today  is  less  than  one-sixth  as  long 
as  Heald's  route,  and  can  be  traversed  in  thrice  as  many  hours  as 
the  number  of  months  he  required. 

At  the  home  of  Mrs.  Heald's  parents  the  fugitives  were 
greeted  as  people  risen  from  the  dead.  Part  of  the  booty 
captured  by  the  Indians  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  had  been 
taken  down  the  Illinois  River  and  sold  to  the  whites.  It  chanced 
that  Colonel  O'Fallon,  an  old  friend  of  the  Healds,  saw  and 
recognized  certain  articles  which  had  been  their  personal  prop 
erty.  He  had  ransomed  them  and  sent  them  to  Samuel  Wells 
at  Louisville,  as  a  memento  of  his  brother  and  daughter  who 
were  both  supposed  to  have  been  killed.  Most  of  these  ar- 
ticles, including  Heald's  sword,  a  comb,  finger  ring,  brooch,  and 

'"  The  estimate  of  the  distance  made  by  Heald  in  his  Journal  was  nineteen  hundred 
and  seven  miles.     Of  this  only  ninety  miles,  from  Buffalo  to  Erie,  were  traveled  by  land. 


244  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

table  spoons  of  Mrs.  Heald,  are  still  in  the  possession  of  her 
descendants. 

Captain  and  Mrs.  Heald  spent  the  winter  at  her  father's 
home,  and  in  the  spring  of  1813  went  to  Newport  where  the 
ensuing  summer  was  passed.  They  shortly  returned  to  the 
vicinity  of  Louisville,  where  in  1814  they  purchased  some  land 
and  began  the  erection  of  farm  buildings,  into  which  they  moved 
late  that  fall.  Three  weeks  after  the  massacre,  while  he  was 
pushing  his  weary  flight  in  an  open  canoe  along  the  desolate 
eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  to  Mackinac,  Heald  had  been 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  major.628  His  wounds,  which  never 
ceased  to  trouble  him,  incapacitated  him  for  further  service,  and 
at  the  consolidation  of  the  army  in  1814  he  was  discharged.  In 
1817  he  was  granted  a  pension  of  twenty  dollars  a  month,  to  date 
from  the  time  of  his  discharge  from  the  army  in  i8i4.629  During 
this  year  he  removed  to  Stockland,  now  O'Fallon,  Missouri. 
Here  he  purchased  a  farm  from  Jacob  Zumwalt  which  had  been 
granted  to  the  latter  by  the  Spanish  government  toward  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century.630  Here  Major  Heald  continued  to 
reside  until  his  death  in  1832,  and  Mrs.  Heald  until  her  demise  a 
quarter  of  a  century  later.  Shortly  before  Heald's  death  his  old 

«••  Drennan  Papers,  Gushing  to  Heald,  November  9,  1812. 

«>»  The  following  letter  from  William  Turner  regarding  the  granting  of  Heald's  pension 
discloses  a  creditable  aspect  of  the  latter's  character.  The  original  letter  is  the  property 
of  a  granddaughter  of  Heald,  Mrs.  Edmonia  Heald  McCluer. 

WASHINGTON  CITY 

25th  January  1817 

DEAR  MAJ:  I  have  taken  the  liberty  without  your  approbation  or  knowledge  with  the  assistance 
of  my  friend  General  Parker  to  procure  you  a  full  pension  as  Capt.  We  were  at  first  in  hopes  to 
procure  it  as  full  pay  for  a  Maj.  but  on  examining  the  list  of  Officers  we  found  that  your  promotion 
as  Maj.  took  place  eleven  days  after  you  received  your  wound. 

It  will  take  effect  from  the  icth  June  1814  at  twenty  dollars  per  month  which  will  be  six  hundred 
dollars  up  to  the  3ist  Dec  1816. 

You  will  excuse  me  for  the  liberty  I  have  taken  in  procuring  this  pension  without  your  knowledge 
and  will  explain  that  I  always  feel  it  my  indisputable  duty  to  render  assistance  to  my  fellow  citize  ns  in 
all  cases  but  more  particularly^  to  a  brother  officer  who  has  served  his  country  as  faithfully  as  you  have 
and  whose  increasing  friendship  for  myself  &  family  have  been  so  conspicuous. 

Should  you  feel  any  delicacy  in  receiving  the  pension  which  I  trust  you  will  not  as  you  are  so 
greatly  entitled  to  it,  permit  me  to  suggest  the  propriety  of  bestowinfg]  it  on  your  child  or  children, 
which  will  be  of  service  to  them  at  some  future  period. 

General  Parker  will  enclose  to  you  the  warrant  or  certificate  for  the  pension  with  instructions 
how  you  are  to  obtain  the  money  already  due. 

WM.  TURNER 
MAJ.  N.  HEALD 

LOUISVILLE,  KENTUCKY 

•»•  Letters  of  Mrs.  Rebecca  Heald  McCluer,  granddaughter  of  Nathan  Heald,  to  the 
author,  May  7  and  June  i,  1912. 


O    a 


£  f 

H    » 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  245 

benefactor,  Chandonnai,  paid  him  a  visit,  accompanied  by  a 
chief  and  a  number  of  other  Indians.  The  members  of  the  party 
were  on  their  way  to  Kansas  to  view  the  country  and  report  to 
their  people  upon  its  desirability.  They  visited  with  Major 
Heald,  who  caused  a  sheep  and  a  beef  to  be  killed  for  their  enter- 
tainment and  talked  over  with  them  the  story  of  the  captivity. 
The  Heald  estate  is  still  intact  in  the  hands  of  the  grandchildren. 
The  old  homestead,  built  by  the  original  proprietor  of  hewn 
walnut  logs,  with  the  flooring  held  in  place  by  wooden  pegs,  still 
stands.  Within  its  walls  the  first  Methodist  sacrament  in 
Missouri  is  said  to  have  been  administered  in  1807,  by  Rev.  Jesse 
Walker,  the  pioneer  of  Methodism  in  Chicago.  For  many  years 
the  house  has  been  unoccupied,  but  it  is  still  in  a  partial  state  of 
repair.  Recently  two  of  its  rooms  have  been  fitted  up  to  serve 
as  the  meeting-place  of  local  chapters  of  the  society  of  Daughters 
of  the  Revolution. 

The  fortunes  of  the  Kinzie  family  after  the  massacre  are 
recounted  with  much  detail  in  the  family  narrative,  Wau  Bun. 
Unfortunately,  however,  the  details  are  untrustworthy.  Some 
of  the  incidents  recited  undoubtedly  possess  a  certain  basis  of 
fact,  and  the  broader  outlines  of  the  itinerary  of  the  family  may 
in  the  main  be  accepted  as  correct;  but  these  things  aside, 
accuracy  of  statement  is  no  more  to  be  looked  for  than  in  a 
mediaeval  historical  romance.631  Several  days  after  the  battle 

•"  Probably  there  was  a  kernel  of  fact  around  which  the  story  of  the  rescue  of  the 
family  by  Billy  Caldwell  from  impending  slaughter  at  the  hands  of  the  Wabash  band  of 
Indians  was  developed.  Forsyth's  letter  to  Heald,  January  2,  1813  (infra,  note  632), 
recounts  the  disappointment  of  "them  murdering  dogs  from  the  Wabash,"  who  reached 
Chicago  shortly  after  Heald's  departure  therefrom.  It  is  not  improbable  that  they  sought 
to  vent  their  displeasure  upon  the  Kinzies,  nor,  if  so,  that  Caldwell,  who  was  a  firm  friend 
of  Kinzie,  intervened  to  protect  them.  That  Mrs.  Helm  may  have  sought  refuge  with 
Ouilmette's  family  is  equally  consonant  with  probability;  but  here  as  elsewhere  it  is  evident 
from  a  critical  reading  that  the  bulk  of  the  narrative  is  the  product  of  the  author's  literary 
imagination.  The  account  of  the  rescue  of  Sergeant  Griffith  must  be  regarded  in  a  similar 
light.  A  careful  reading  of  the  story,  accompanied  by  the  reflection  that  Griffith  was  an 
experienced  frontiersman  and  soldier,  suffices  to  convince  one  of  this.  Instead  of  being  on 
the  north  side  of  the  river  during  the  battle,  Griffith  was  a  participant  in  it.  Necessarily 
then,  the  greater  part  of  the  narrative  is  invalid.  Yet  Helm's  brief  entry  concerning 
Griffith,  "Supposed  to  be  a  Frenchman  and  released,"  seems  to  indicate  that  Mrs.  Kinzie's 
narrative  had  some  incitement  in  fact. 


246  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

the  family  proceeded  by  boat  to  the  St.  Joseph  River632  where  it 
remained  some  weeks  with  the  friendly  Pottawatomies,  when 
Mrs.  Kinzie  and  her  children  journeyed  to  Detroit  under  the 
escort  of  Chandonnai,  while  John  Kinzie  remained  behind  for  a 
time  in  the  hope  of  collecting  some  of  his  scattered  property. 

Mrs.  Helm  shared  the  fortunes  of  her  mother's  family  as  far 
as  Detroit.  Meanwhile  her  husband,  Lieutenant  Helm,  was 
taken  by  his  captors  down  the  Illinois  River.  Befo  "  leaving 
Chicago,  apparently,  Mrs.  Kinzie  interceded  with  he*  jn-in- 
law's  captors  in  his  behalf;  her  speech  had  "the  desired  effect," 
and  within  a  few  weeks  Thomas  Forsyth  succeeded  in  ransoming 
Helm  by  the  payment  of  two  mares  "and  a  keg  of  stuff  when 
practicable."633  After  spending  some  time  with  his  rescuer  at 
Peoria,  Helm  proceeded  down  the  river,  arriving  at  St.  Louis 
October  14,  two  months  after  the  massacre.  Thence  he  made  his 

«>•  According  to  the  family  narrative  on  the  third  day  after  the  battle.  The  following 
letter  from  Thomas  Forsyth  to  Heald,  January  2,  1813,  shows  that  in  fact  it  was  the  fifth 
day.  The  letter  is  primarily  concerned  with  the  property  losses  of  Forsyth  and  Kinzie,  but 
incidentally  it  supplies  some  interesting  data  concerning  the  massacre  and  certain  of  the 
survivors.  The  original  manuscript  is  owned  by  Mrs.  Lillian  Heald  Richmond  of  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

ST.  Louis,  and  Jany.  1813 

SIR:  I  have  forwarded  on  to  the  City  of  Washington  our  Claims  against  the  U.  States  for  our 
Whiskey  Gunpowders  and  horses  that  was  lost  at  Chicago  in  August  last.  Lt.  Helm  (who  I  got  off 
from  the  Indians)  has  proven  by  affidavit,  to  the  Quantity  of  Gunpowders  and  Whiskey,  but  by  a 
neglect  in  drawing  up  his  affidavit  it  does  not  say  that  Lt.  Helm  saw  the  Gunpowder  and  Whiskey 
destroyed,  say  850  Lbs.  gunpowder  and  1,200  Gallons  Whiskey.  I  therefore  would  thank  you  if  you 
would  forward  on  to  the  City  of  Washington,  to  Gov.  Howard  of  this  place,  who  is  gone  on  to  that 
City,  and  has  our  claims  with  him,  a  Certificate  or  affidavit  stating  simply  the  destruction  of  the 
Gunpowder  and  Whiskey,  (as  Lt.  Helm  has  proven  that  he  saw  the  Horses  and  Mules  in  possession  of 
the  Indians  when  he  was  a  prisoner)  will  be  sufficient. 

The  day  after  the  horrid  affair,  and  I  believe  the  very  day  you  left  Chicago  for  St.  Joseph's  I 
arrived  there  (Chicago)  I  remained  four  days  with  Kinsie  and  his  family,  and  I  left  Chicago  the  same 
day  Kinsie  left  it  for  St.  Joseph's,  and  I  have  not  heard  of  him  since,  you  was  certainly  very  fortunate 
in  getting  of  from  Chicago  the  moment  you  did,  as  I  can  assure  you  that  a  very  few  days  longer  and 
probably  you  would  never  have  left  Chicago,  as  them  murdering  dogs  from  the  Wabash,  was  very 
much  displeased  when  they  you  was  gone,  and  said  it  would  be  needless  to  follow  you,  as  the  wind  was 
fair  and  they  could  not  overtake  you,  was  they  to  follow  the  boat. 

Lynch  &  Suttenfield  was  badly  wounded,  and  were  both  killed  before  the  Indians  arrived  at 
River  Aux  Sable.  Crosier  was  taken  off  from  River  Aux  Sable  to  Green  Bay  by  a  Chipeway  Indian, 
an  old  friend  of  his,  and  therefore  he  is  free.  When  you  send  on  the  deposition  to  Gov.  Howard,  direct 
your  letter  to  him  at  Lexington  Kentucky  and  should  he  not  be  there  his  friends  will  forward  it  on  to 
the  Seat  of  Government. 

Please  give  my  respects  to  Mrs  Heald. 

And  remains 

Sir 
Your  most  Obedient 

Servt.    THOMAS  FORSYTH 

CAPT.  N.  HEALD  Sdg. 

LOUISVILLE 

6"  Helm's  narrative  of  the  massacre,  Appendix  VI;  letter  of  Forsyth  to  Heald,  January 
2,  1813,  supra,  note  632;  Forsyth  to  John  Kinzie,  September  24,  1812,  in  Magazine  of 
History,  March,  igi2,  p.  89. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  247 

way  to  his  father's  home  in  New  York,  where  he  rejoined  Mrs. 
Helm,  who  had  arrived  there  shortly  before.  For  some  reason 
not  now  in  evidence,  five  months  elapsed  between  Helm's  arrival 
at  St.  Louis  and  the  conclusion  of  his  journey,  the  reunion  with 
Mrs.  Helm  occurring  in  March,  1813,  seven  months  and  one 
week  after  their  separation.634 

The  story  of  Mrs.  Simmons  and  her  infant  daughter  is  in 
some  respects  the  most  interesting  and  heroic  of  the  narratives  of 
the  Fort  Dearborn  captives.635  Her  husband  was  one  of  the  little 
band  of  soldiers  who  died  fighting  in  defense  of  the  wagons. 
Among  the  children  in  the  wagon  was  his  son,  David,  two  years 
of  age,  who  perished  beneath  the  tomahawk  of  the  young  fiend 
who  slaughtered  the  children  collected  there.  Mrs.  Simmons  on 
foot  survived  the  massacre  and  succeeded  in  preserving  her 
daughter,  Susan,  a  babe  of  six  months,  whom  she  carried  in  her 
arms.  Perceiving  the  delight  which  the  savages  derived  from 
tormenting  their  prisoners,  she  resolved  to  suppress  any  mani- 
festation of  anguish.  If  the  family  narrative  may  be  credited, 
her  resolution  was  promptly  put  to  a  terrible  test.  The  slain 
children  were  collected  in  a  row,  among  them  the  gory  corpse  of 

6»  In  Wau  Bun,  p.  187,  occurs  a  moving  story  of  Mrs.  Helm's  journey  from  Detroit  to 
Fort  George  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  It  represents  that  Helm  rejoined  his  wife  in  Detroit, 
where  both  were  arrested  by  order  of  the  British  commander  and  sent  on  horseback  in  the 
dead  of  winter  through  Canada  to  Fort  George.  No  official  appeared  charged  with  their 
reception,  and  on  their  arrival  they  were  forced  to  sit  waiting  outside  the  gate  for  more  than 
an  hour,  without  food  or  shelter,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Helm  was  a  delicate 
woman  and  the  weather  was  most  cold  and  inclement.  When  Colonel  Sheaffe  learned  of 
this  brutal  inhospitality  he  expressed  his  indignation  over  it,  and  treated  the  prisoners 
kindly  until  they  were  exchanged,  when  they  made  their  way  to  their  friends  in  New  York. 
Aside  from  the  improbability  that  Helm,  finding  himself  safe  among  his  own  countrymen  at 
St.  Louis,  would  voluntarily  go  to  Detroit  to  become  a  prisoner  of  the  British,  the  truth  of 
Mrs.  Kinzie's  detailed  narration  is  disproved  by  the  explicit  statement  of  Helm  in  his 
narrative  of  the  massacre  that  after  separating  from  his  wife  near  the  fort  on  the  day  of  the 
massacre  they  met  again  at  his  father's  home  in  the  state  of  New  York,  "she  having 
arrived  seven  days  before  me  after  being  separated  seven  months  and  one  week." 

««  For  the  story  of  the  captivity  of  Mrs.  Simmons  the  principal  source  is  the  family 
narrative,  Heroes  and  Heroines  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre.  A  Romantic  and  Tragic 
History  of  Corporal  John  Simmons  and  His  Heroic  Wife,  by  N.  Simmons,  M.D.  The  book 
is  of  value  only  for  its  story  of  the  experiences  of  Mrs.  Simmons  and  her  daughter.  The 
Fort  Dearborn  muster-roll  for  May,  1812,  shows  that  Simmons  was  not  a  corporal  as  stated, 
but  only  a  private.  In  general  the  book  must  be  used  with  great  caution. 


248  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

her  son,  and  she  was  led  past  them  in  the  effort  to  discover  from 
her  bearing  whether  any  of  them  had  belonged  to  her.  She 
passed  through  the  ordeal  without  a  sign  of  recognition,  and 
according  to  the  same  account,  endured  the  long  months  of  her 
terrible  captivity  without  once  shedding  a  tear. 

In  the  division  of  the  captives  Mrs.  Simmons  fell  along  with 
others  into  the  hands  of  some  savages  from  the  vicinity  of  Green 
Bay.  On  the  morning  after  the  massacre  they  crossed  the 
Chicago  River  and  began  the  homeward  march.  The  weather 
was  warm  and  the  hardship  of  the  journey  for  Mrs.  Simmons, 
aside  from  the  fatigue  of  the  travel,  consisted  mainly  in  being 
compelled  to  do  the  drudgery  of  her  captors,  such  as  gathering 
fuel  and  building  fires.  On  the  march  she  walked,  carrying  her 
baby  the  entire  distance,  two  hundred  miles  or  more.  The  hard- 
ships of  the  march  were  as  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
reception  which  awaited  its  conclusion.  Runners  were  sent  in 
advance  to  announce  the  approach  of  the  war  party  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  tribe  in  camp,  and  as  it  drew  near  the  women  and 
children  streamed  forth  to  meet  it.  They  saluted  the  captives 
with  a  fusillade  of  insults,  kicking  and  otherwise  abusing  them. 
Arrived  at  the  village,  they  were  put  under  close  guard  until  the 
following  day. 

In  the  morning  the  village  was  early  astir,  and  preparations 
were  made  for  subjecting  the  captives  to  the  ordeal  of  running 
the  gauntlet.  A  long  double  line  was  formed  by  the  women  and 
children  in  an  open  space  before  the  wigwams,  and  each  of  the 
soldiers  was  compelled  to  run  between  the  lines,  receiving  the 
blows  dealt  out  with  sticks  and  clubs  by  those  composing  them. 
Mrs.  Simmons'  hope  of  being  spared  this  ordeal  proved  vain,  and 
she  was  led  to  the  head  of  the  line.  Wrapping  her  babe  in  her 
blanket,  and  enfolding  it  in  her  arms  to  shield  it,  she  ran  rapidly 
down  the  path  of  torment  and  reached  the  goal,  bleeding  and 
bruised,  but  with  the  infant  unharmed. 

At  this  stage  of  her  persecutions  the  mother  encountered  an 
unexpected  act  of  kindness.  An  elderly  squaw  led  her  into  her 
wigwam,  washed  her  wounds,  and  gave  her  food  and  an  oppor- 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  249 

tunity  to  rest.  The  new-found  friend  continued  her  kindly 
services  as  long  as  Mrs.  Simmons  remained  in  the  same  camp 
with  her;  and  the  captive  ever  afterward  spoke  of  her  as  her 
"Indian  mother,"  and  regretted  her  inability  to  repay  the  favors 
received  from  her. 

Meanwhile  Robert  Dickson  was  collecting  the  western  tribes 
to  lead  them  to  the  scene  of  war  on  the  Lake  Erie  frontier.  The 
warriors  rendezvoused  at  Green  Bay,  from  which  place  the 
chieftain,  Black  Hawk,  destined  to  play  a  prominent  role  in  the 
Northwest  twenty  years  later,  led  a  party  of  five  hundred  south- 
ward around  Lake  Michigan,  past  the  slaughtered  garrison  of 
Fort  Dearborn,  and  onward  to  the  frontier.636  The  band  to 
which  Mrs.  Simmons  belonged  seems  to  have  participated  in 
this  movement  of  the  western  tribes.  The  captive  retraced  her 
weary  way  from  Green  Bay  to  Chicago  and  the  bones  of  her  mur- 
dered husband,  carrying  her  baby  as  before.  From  Chicago  her 
captors  led  her  around  the  lake  to  Mackanic;  the  length  of  the 
entire  journey  was  about  six  hundred  miles,  and  winter  closed 
in  before  it  was  completed.  Scantily  clad,  suffering  from  cold, 
weariness,  and  hunger,  the  mother  strove  desperately  to  save  her 
child,  and  accomplished  the  almost  incredible  exploit  of  carrying 
it  in  safety  to  Mackinac. 

Here  she  was  cheered  by  the  prospect  of  ransom  or  exchange; 
but  the  sequel  proved  that  her  trials  were  as  yet  but  half  sur- 
mounted. To  accomplish  her  release  she  was  sent  to  Detroit. 
The  terrible  march  was  again  resumed,  this  time  in  the  dead  of 
winter.  The  route  led  through  three  hundred  miles  of  wilder- 
ness; deep  snows  with  occasional  storms  impeded  the  progress; 
her  clothing  was  in  rags,  and  food  was  so  scarce  that  she  was 
often  constrained  to  appease  her  hunger  by  eating  roots, 
acorns,  and  nuts,  found  under  the  snow.  The  child,  now  a 
year  old,  had  much  increased  in  weight,  while  the  mother's 
strength  was  diminishing.  But  the  prospect  of  release  at  the 
end  of  the  journey  buoyed  up  her  hopes  and  she  continued 
to  struggle  on. 

'j*  Black  Hawk,  Life,  40-42. 


250  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

From  Detroit  to  her  parental  home  near  Piqua,  Ohio,  the 
journey  was  comparatively  easy.  The  first  stage  took  her  to 
Fort  Meigs,  then  in  command  of  General  Harrison,  where  she 
arrived  late  in  March,  1813.  Here  she  learned  that  a  supply 
train  which  had  recently  come  from  Cincinnati  was  about  to 
return,  and  that  it  would  pass  within  a  few  miles  of  her  father's 
home.  She  accordingly  secured  passage  in  one  of  the  govern- 
ment wagons.  She  still  had  over  a  hundred  miles  to  travel  over 
wet  and  swampy  roads  in  early  spring  time;  but  in  comparison 
with  her  earlier  travels  this  stage  of  the  journey  must  have  seemed 
luxurious  enough.  About  the  middle  of  April  she  left  the  train 
at  a  point  within  four  miles  of  her  home,  walked  to  the  blockhouse 
where  her  parents  had  taken  refuge  from  marauding  Indians, 
and  rejoined  the  family  circle  which  had  long  mourned  her  as 
dead.  Three  years  before,  with  husband  and  baby  son,  she  had 
set  out  for  her  new  home  at  Fort  Dearborn.  Both  husband  and 
son  were  dead  and  she  now  returned  a  widow,  but  with  another 
child,  who  had  been  born  at  Fort  Dearborn  in  February,  1812. 
Safe  among  her  former  friends,  the  brave  woman  at  last  broke 
down;  to  use  her  own  language  she  "did  nothing  but  weep  for 
months." 

There  were  still  other  dangers  and  trials,  however,  for  Mrs. 
Simmons  to  pass  through.  In  August  a  murderous  attack  was 
made  by  some  marauding  Indians  upon  the  family  of  Henry 
Dilbone,  who  had  married  the  sister  of  Mrs.  Simmons.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Dilbone  were  working  together  in  the  flax  field,  with  their 
four  young  children  close  at  hand.  Near  the  close  of  the  day's 
work  their  dog  raised  an  alarm,  and  at  almost  the  same  instant 
the  husband  fell  shot  through  the  breast.  The  savage  sprang 
forward  from  his  place  of  concealment  to  take  his  victim's  scalp. 
But  the  latter  though  mortally  wounded  was  not  dead,  and 
gathering  his  remaining  strength  he  rose,  ran  to  the  edge  of  the 
field,  and  leaped  the  fence  which  separated  it  from  an  adjoining 
swamp,  where  he  fell  among  the  bushes.  The  Indian  abandoned 
the  pursuit  and  turned  back  after  Mrs.  Dilbone,  who  had  fled 
for  concealment  into  the  neighboring  corn.  Her  flight  was  vain, 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  251 

however,  for  she  was  soon  overcome,  tomahawked,  and  scalped. 
The  slayer  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  four  children,  the 
eldest  of  whom  was  ten  years  of  age  and  the  youngest  seven 
months.  They,  meanwhile,  had  been  making  what  progress 
they  could  toward  the  house.  Instead  of  pursuing  them  the 
warrior  made  off  into  the  forest,  fearing  probably  that  the  noise 
caused  by  the  discharge  of  his  gun  and  the  screams  of  Mrs. 
Dilbone  would  attract  rescuers  to  the  spot. 

The  neighbors  were  quickly  aroused  and  a  company  went  in 
search  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dilbone.  The  corpse  of  the  latter  was 
found  and  carried  together  with  the  children  to  the  blockhouse  of 
the  Simmons  family.  The  search  for  Mr.  Dilbone  was  given  over 
for  that  night,  through  fear  of  an  ambuscade.  In  the  morning  it 
was  resumed  and  he  was  soon  found,  too  weak  to  move  or  even 
to  cry  out.  He,  too,  was  borne  to  the  blockhouse,  where  he 
expired  the  following  day.  Thus  after  her  own  escape  from 
captivity  and  death  at  the  hands  of  the  savages,  Mrs.  Simmons 
found  herself  once  more  in  the  midst  of  bloodshed  and  slaughter 
—  her  sister  and  brother-in-law  slain,  her  nephews  orphaned.  To 
such  perils  were  the  people  on  the  northwestern  frontier  exposed 
during  these  troublesome  and  bloody  years. 

The  story  of  the  later  career  of  Mrs.  Simmons  and  her 
daughter  can  quickly  be  told.  The  latter  in  due  course  of  time 
grew  to  womanhood  and  became  the  wife  of  Moses  Winans.  The 
couple  first  settled  in  Shelby  County,  Ohio,  but  in  1853  they 
removed  to  Springville,  Iowa.  Mrs.  Simmons,  who  had  previ- 
ously taken  up  her  abode  hi  her  daughter's  family,  removed  with 
them  to  Iowa,  and  died  at  Springville  in  i857-637  Mrs.  Winans' 
husband  died  in  1871,  and  seventeen  years  later  she  went  to 
Santa  Ana,  California,  to  make  her  home  with  her  younger 
daughter.  She  lived  to  become  the  last  survivor  of  the  Fort 
Dearborn  massacre,  dying  at  Santa  Ana,  April  27, 


•»  For  this  and  the  following  facts  concerning  Mrs.  Winans  see  the  letters  and  affidavits 
pertaining  to  the  securing  of  a  pension  for  Susan  Simmons  Winans  in  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society  library. 

«>•  Gale,  Reminiscences  of  Early  Chicago,  133. 


252  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

An  interesting  although  necessarily  incomplete  narrative  of 
the  fortunes  of  the  surviving  members  of  the  Burns  family  may  be 
constructed  by  assembling  the  facts  contained  in  several  widely 
scattered  sources  of  information.  The  killing  of  the  husband, 
Thomas  Burns,  an  hour  after  the  surrender  has  already  been 
described.639  A  son  of  Mrs.  Burns  by  a  former  marriage,  Joseph 
or  James  Cooper,  was  also  a  member  of  the  slaughtered  militia.640 
To  complete  the  tale  of  the  mother's  bereavement,  her  two  chil- 
dren next  in  age  perished  in  the  massacre.  The  mother  with  two 
children,  one  of  them  an  infant,  alone  survived  to  undergo  the 
horrors  of  captivity  among  the  Indians.641  Concerning  this 
captivity  we  have  two  accounts,  both  of  them  brief  and  unsatis- 
factory. Mrs.  Kinzie  relates  in  Wau  Bun  that  Mrs.  Burns  and 
her  infant  became  the  prisoners  of  a  chief,  who  carried  them  to  his 
village.  His  wife,  jealous  of  the  favor  shown  by  her  lord  and 
master  to  the  white  woman  and  her  child,  treated  them  with  the 
greatest  hostility,  and  on  one  occasion  sought  unsuccessfully  to 
brain  the  infant  with  a  tomahawk.  Soon  after  this  demonstra- 
tion the  prisoners  were  removed  to  a  place  of  safety.  The  author 
further  relates  that  twenty-two  years  after  the  massacre  she 
encountered  a  young  woman  on  a  steamer,  who,  hearing  her 
name,  introduced  herself  and  raising  the  hair  from  her  forehead 
displayed  the  mark  of  the  tomahawk,  which  so  nearly  had  been 
fatal  to  her.642 

The  other  narrative  was  given  to  John  Wentworth  in  1861  by 
the  son  of  Abraham  Edwards,  who  was  hospital  surgeon  in  Hull's 
army  at  Detroit  in  i8i2.643  He  settled  at  Detroit  in  1816,  and 
there  the  family  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mrs.  Burns.  Her 
daughter,  Isabella  Cooper,  became  an  inmate  of  the  Edwards 
home,  and  thus  the  younger  Edwards  became  familiar  with  the 
story.  Together  with  her  mother  and  sister  she  had  been  an 

'«  Supra,  pp.  227,  234. 

'«•  Letter  of  Griffith  to  Heald,  January  13,  1820,  Draper  Collection,  U,  VIII,  88. 

'<•  Griffith  speaks  of  three  children  of  Mrs.  Burns.  Helm's  account  of  the  massacre 
and  the  letter  of  Abraham  Edwards  to  John  Wentworth,  which  will  be  considered  presently, 
mention  only  two,  and  this  harmonizes  with  Heald's  list  of  the  survivors. 

'"  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  188-89.  6"  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  54-60. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  253 

occupant  of  one  of  the  wagons  when  the  evacuation  of  Fort 
Dearborn  took  place.  A  young  Indian  pulled  her  out  of  the 
wagon  by  her  hair,  but  the  child,  though  only  about  nine  years  of 
age,  fought  him  to  the  best  of  her  ability,  biting  and  scratching. 
Finally  he  threw  her  down,  scalped  her,  and  was  about  to  toma- 
hawk her,  when  an  old  squaw  who  had  frequently  visited  at  her 
father's  house  intervened  and  saved  her  life.  The  rescuer  later 
took  the  child  to  her  wigwam  where  she  cared  for  her  and  healed 
her  wound,  although  a  spot  on  the  top  of  her  head  the  size  of  a 
silver  dollar  remained  bare.  She  and  her  mother  and  sister  re- 
mained among  the  Indians  two  years,  when  they  were  taken  to 
Mackinac,  purchased  by  some  traders,  and  sent  to  Detroit. 

The  narrative  thus  told  by  Edwards  to  Wentworth  fifty 
years  after  the  massacre  is  confirmed  in  part  by  a  letter  of 
Sergeant  Griffith  to  Captain  Heald  in  i82o.644  Griffith  had 
recently  been  to  Detroit,  and  wrote  to  Heald,  then  living  on  his 
farm  in  Missouri,  to  enlist  his  support  in  procuring  a  pension  for 
Mrs.  Burns.  She  was  then  living  in  Detroit,  supporting  herself 
and  her  three  surviving  children  by  her  own  labor.  A  number  of 
officers  and  others  had  interested  themselves  in  the  project  of 
obtaining  a  pension  for  her.  Her  husband  had  been  enrolled  by 
Heald  as  a  sergeant  in  the  militia,  in  which  capacity  he  had  served 
for  several  months  and  finally  given  up  his  life.  Of  all  this  the 
government  had  no  record  or  knowledge,  however,  and  so  Heald's 
certificate  as  to  the  nature  of  Burns's  services  was  needed.  In 
the  absence  of  any  knowledge  concerning  the  success  of  the  pen- 
sion project,  we  may  hope  that  the  government  ministered  to  the 
needs  of  the  widow  who  had  suffered  so  grievously  in  the  Fort 
Dearborn  massacre.  Edwards  records  that  Mrs.  Bums  died  at 
Detroit  about  the  year  1823.  He  also  states  that  the  daughters 
were  living  as  late  as  1828,  at  which  time  he  left  Detroit,  and  that 
he  had  since  heard  they  were  living  in  Mackinac.  With  this, 
except  for  the  brief  notice  by  Mrs.  Kinzie  of  a  meeting  with  one 
of  them,  which  has  already  been  mentioned,  our  knowledge  of 
them  comes  to  an  end. 

'«  Letter  of  Griffith  to  Heald,  January  13,  1820,  cited  supra,  note  640. 


254  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Hovering  on  the  border  between  myth  and  history  are  a  num- 
ber of  stories  concerning  the  fate  of  others  who  went  through  the 
massacre.  Some  of  these  may  be  true,  while  some  are  certainly 
without  foundation  in  fact;  they  are  grouped  together  here  be- 
cause of  the  impossibility  of  confirming  their  claim  to  validity. 
The  story  of  little  Peter  Bell  will  probably  forever  remain  an 
unsolved  mystery.  In  September,  1813,  a  British  officer, 
Captain  Bullock,  addressed  an  inquiry  from  Mackinac  to  General 
Proctor  concerning  the  disposition  to  be  made  of  certain  prisoners 
whom  the  Indians  had  surrendered  to  the  British  at  that  post.645 
Among  others  he  mentioned  Peter  Bell,  a  boy  of  five  or  six  years 
of  age,  "whose  Father  and  mother  were  killed  at  Chicagoe."  He 
had  been  purchased  from  the  Indians  by  a  trader  and  brought  to 
Mackinac  in  July,  1813,  in  accordance  with  the  orders  of  Robert 
Dickson.  The  mystery  concerns  the  identity  of  the  child.  The 
time  and  manner  of  his  rescue  harmonizes  with  what  is  known  of 
Dickson's  work  for  the  relief  of  the  Chicago  captives.  But  in 
none  of  the  accounts  of  Fort  Dearborn  and  the  little  settle- 
ment around  its  walls  prior  to  1812,  is  there  any  mention  of 
a  Bell  family.  The  various  accounts  of  the  massacre  establish 
conclusively  the  proposition  that  there  were  nine  women  among 
the  whites  on  that  day.  Two  of  these  were  killed;  the  names 
of  all  of  them  are  known,  and  the  list  contains  no  Mrs.  Bell. 
Moreover,  it  is  clear  from  the  sources  that  six  children  survived 
the  massacre.  The  names  of  all  these  are  known,  but  that 
of  Peter  Bell  is  not  among  them.  The  only  explanation  of 
the  child's  identity  which  suggests  itself  is  that  he  was  taken 
captive  at  some  other  place  than  Chicago  and  that  his  captors  for 
some  reason,  perhaps  because  of  the  ransom  offered,  saw  fit  to 
surrender  him  as  one  of  the  children  taken  at  Fort  Dearborn. 
Whatever  the  true  explanation  may  be,  a  mournful  interest 
attaches  to  the  forlorn  little  waif  who  thus  appears  for  a  moment 
amidst  the  wreck  of  battle,  only  to  sink  again  into  oblivion. 

The  fate  of  the  Lee  family  is  recorded  in  the  pages  of  Wau 
Bun.646    All  of  its  members  except  the  mother  and  an  infant 

««»  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  392.  '<«  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  189-91. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  255 

child  were  killed  during  the  battle.  The  fate  of  the  girl,  twelve 
years  of  age,  was  particularly  pathetic.  On  leaving  the  fort, 
she  had  been  placed  upon  horseback,  but  being  unused  to 
riding  she  was  tied  to  the  saddle  for  greater  security.  During 
the  battle  her  horse  ran  away  and  the  rider,  partially  dis- 
mounted yet  held  by  the  bands,  hung  dangling  as  the  animal 
ran.  From  this  predicament  she  was  rescued  by  Black  Par- 
tridge, with  whom  she  had  been  a  great  favorite;  but  finding 
her  badly  wounded,  he  terminated  her  sufferings  with  a  blow 
of  the  tomahawk. 

The  mother  and  her  infant  child  were  taken  by  Black  Par- 
tridge to  his  village.  There  the  infant  fell  ill  and  Black  Partridge 
fell  in  love,  instituting  a  campaign  for  the  hand  of  his  captive. 
Unable  to  cure  the  sick  child,  he  took  it  during  the  winter  to 
Chicago,  where  a  French  trader  had  established  himself  since  the 
massacre.  The  trader,  M.  Du  Pin,  not  only  prescribed  for  the 
child,  but  learning  of  Black  Partridge's  designs  upon  its  mother, 
proceeded  to  ransom  her  and  then  in  turn  to  marry  her.647  This 
story  is  repeated  with  embellishments  by  Matson,  who,  with 
curious  disregard  for  consistency,  includes  an  important  feature 
not  found  in  the  original.  He  avers  that  the  child  who  was 
dragged  by  the  horse  and  afterward  tomahawked  was  Lillian 
Lee,  ten  years  of  age;  and  that  she  had  a  sister  two  years  older 
who  escaped  unharmed,  was  taken  by  her  captors  to  the 
Kankakee,  and  the  following  spring  was  carried  to  St.  Louis, 
where  she  married  a  man  named  Besson,  and  was  still  living  in 
East  St.  Louis  at  the  time  Matson's  book  was  written.648 

The  story  of  David  Kennison,  a  survivor  of  the  Fort  Dearborn 
garrison,  is  worthy  of  preservation,  if  only  because  of  the  remark- 

««'  In  his  letter  to  Heald,  April  10, 1813  (supra,  note  613),  Forsyth  stated  that  "Dupain 
and  Buisson  wintered  at  Chicago  last  winter  with  goods  from  Mackinaw,  they  have  bought 
of[f]  Mrs.  Leigh  and  her  younger  child,  and  another  woman  which  I  expect  is  Mrs.  Cooper 
or  Burns." 

««•  Matson,  Pioneers  of  Illinois,  257-62.  The  book  was  published  in  1882.  Notwith- 
standing the  author's  statement  that  he  had  interviewed  Mrs.  Besson  and  "  listened  to  her 
thrilling  narrative,"  there  is  much  in  his  account  to  excite  distrust.  It  recites  many  details 
which  are  obviously  purely  imaginary,  and  for  the  rest  follows,  in  the  main,  the  account  in 
Wau  Bun. 


256  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

able  career  of  the  man.649  Born  in  New  Hampshire  in  1736,  if 
his  own  story  of  his  age  is  to  be  accepted,  a  member  of  the 
Boston  Tea  Party,  a  participant  in  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill 
and  many  another  battle  of  the  Revolution,  he  had  reached  the 
respectable  age  of  seventy-one  when,  in  March,  1808,  he  enlisted 
in  the  army  for  the  regular  term  of  five  years.  Probably  this 
was  a  re-enlistment,  for  Kinzie's  account  books  show  that  he  was 
at  Chicago  as  early  as  May,  1804.  The  garrison  muster-roll  for 
May,  1812,  shows  that  he  was  present  for  duty  at  that  time. 
The  supposition  that  he  was  a  participant  in  the  massacre  three 
months  later  rests  upon  inference,  for  his  name  is  nowhere  ex- 
pressly mentioned  in  connection  with  that  event.  Presumably 
he  was  one  of  the  small  number  of  survivors  who  returned 
from  captivity  concerning  whom  no  definite  record  is  left.  In 
his  old  age  Kennison  told  of  further  service  in  the  War  of  1812, 
but  it  is  evident  that  his  memory  had  become  confused  upon 
the  subject. 

After  the  war  Kennison  settled  in  New  York,  and  in  the 
ensuing  years  of  peace  met  with  physical  injuries  far  more  numer- 
ous and  serious  than  in  all  of  his  years  of  warfare.  A  falling  tree 
fractured  his  skull  and  broke  his  collar  bone  and  two  ribs;  the 
discharge  of  a  cannon  at  a  military  review  broke  both  of  his  legs; 
and  the  kick  of  a  horse  on  his  forehead  left  a  scar  which  dis- 
figured him  for  life.  Notwithstanding  these  accidents,  Kennison 
succeeded  in  becoming  a  husband  four  times  and  a  father  twenty- 
two,  and  in  living  to  the  mature  age  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen. 
Late  in  life  he  became  separated  from  all  his  children,  and  in  1845 
he  came  to  Chicago  where  his  last  years  were  spent.  He  drew  a 
pension  of  eight  dollars  a  month  for  his  Revolutionary  services, 
and  until  1848  eked  out  this  means  of  support  by  manual  labor. 

6<»The  account  given  here  of  Kennison  is  drawn  from  the  following  sources:  the 
Chicago  Democrat,  November  6  and  8,  1848,  and  February  25,  26,  27,  1852;  the  Chicago 
Daily  News,  December  19,  1903;  the  Fort  Dearborn  garrison  payroll  for  the  quarter  ending 
December  31,  1811,  and  the  muster-roll  for  the  period  ending  May  31,  1812,  both  among 
the  Heald  papers  in  the  Draper  Collection  (for  the  latter  see  Appendix  VIII);  the  garrison 
muster-roll  for  December,  1810,  printed  in  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  88.  Many  of  the 
details  concerning  the  career  of  Kennison  are,  of  course,  of  doubtful  validity. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS          257 

Becoming  incapacitated  for  the  latter,  however,  he  entered  the 
Chicago  Museum ;  in  his  card  to  the  public  announcing  this  step 
he  explained  that  the  smallness  of  his  pension  obliged  him  to  take 
it  to  provide  himself  with  the  necessary  comforts  of  life.  For  the 
last  twenty  months  of  his  life  the  veteran  was  bedridden,  but  his 
sight  and  hearing,  which  for  a  time  had  been  deficient,  became 
perfect  again,  and  he  retained  his  ordinary  faculties  to  the  end. 
His  death  occurred  February  24,  1852. 

It  was  fitting  that  such  a  character  should  receive  an  imposing 
funeral.  On  the  day  before  his  death,  in  response  to  a  request 
presented  in  his  behalf  that  he  be  saved  from  the  potter's  field, 
the  City  Council  had  voted  that  a  lot  and  a  suitable  monument  be 
provided  for  him  in  the  City  Cemetery.  The  funeral  was  held 
from  the  Clark  Street  Methodist  Church,  and  several  clergymen 
assisted  in  the  services.  At  their  conclusion  a  procession  moved 
in  two  divisions  from  the  church  to  the  cemetery,  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  cannon  booming  at  one-minute  intervals.  In  the 
procession  were  the  mayor  and  the  councilmen,  a  detachment 
of  the  United  States  army,  the  various  military  companies  and 
bands  of  the  city,  companies  of  firemen,  and  others.  Upon  this 
spectacle  and  that  of  the  interment,  which  was  marked  by  the 
usual  military  honors,  a  large  proportion  of  the  population  of  the 
city  gazed.  The  cemetery  occupied  a  portion  of  the  ground  now 
included  in  Lincoln  Park.  When  the  use  of  this  for  burial  pur- 
poses was  abandoned  a  number  of  years  later,  nearly  all  of  the 
bodies  interred  in  it  were  removed.  Kennison's  was  one  of  the 
few  left  undisturbed.  For  many  years  the  site  of  his  grave  had 
practically  been  forgotten,  when,  in  1905,  with  appropriate  cere- 
monies it  was  marked  by  a  massive  granite  monument,  erected 
by  a  number  of  patriotic  societies.  Thus  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  Kennison's  burial  place  possesses  a  prominence  of  which 
the  humble  soldier  in  life  can  hardly  have  dared  to  dream. 
Veteran  of  our  two  wars  against  Great  Britain,  participant  in  the 
Boston  Tea  Party  and  the  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre,  he  enjoys 
the  unique  distinction  of  a  grave  in  Chicago's  most  famous  park, 
overlooking  the  blue  waters  of  Lake  Michigan. 


258  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Another  massacre  story,  concerning  the  mythical  character  of 
which  there  can  be  no  doubt,  is  noticed  here  because  of  the  use 
that  has  been  made  of  it  by  a  historian  of  acknowledged  worth 
and  ability.  Among  the  beautiful  sheets  of  water  which  dot  the 
surface  of  the  Lower  Peninsula  of  Michigan  is  Diamond  Lake 
near  the  town  of  Cassopolis.  In  its  midst  lies  Diamond  Lake 
Island,  a  wooded  expanse  of  perhaps  forty  acres  in  extent.  This 
was  occupied  in  the  early  days  of  white  settlement  in  Cass  County 
by  an  aged  recluse  who  bore  the  prosaic  name  of  Job  Wright,  but 
who  was  often  more  romantically  designated  as  the  hermit  of 
Diamond  Lake  Island.  The  hermit  eked  out  a  living  by  fishing, 
hunting,  trapping,  and  basket-weaving.  Since  he  was  of  an 
uncommunicative  disposition,  his  neighbors  were  free  to  give  rein 
to  their  imagination  in  constructing  the  story  of  his  past,  and  the 
scars  upon  his  face  furnished  a  visible  support  for  the  rumor  that 
he  had  been  a  soldier.650 

Another  character  of  note  in  Cass  County  three-quarters  of  a 
century  ago  was  Shavehead,  the  erstwhile  leader  of  a  band  of 
renegade  Indians.  Shavehead's  peculiar  cognomen  was  due  to 
his  fashion  of  dressing  his  head ;  the  hair  at  the  base  of  the  head 
was  shaved  off,  and  the  rest  gathered  in  a  bunch  and  tied  at  the 
top.  He  had  been  throughout  his  lifetime  the  persistent  foe  of 
the  whites,  and  among  the  early  settlers  of  Cass  County  he 
enjoyed  a  reputation  for  knavery  and  villainy  which  must,  if  he 
was  aware  of  it,  have  delighted  his  heart. 

With  old  age  Shavehead  fell  upon  evil  days.  His  followers 
disappeared,  and  with  the  advance  of  white  settlement  and  the 
disappearance  of  game  the  old  chief  was  reduced  to  sore  straits 
for  food.  At  times,  however,  he  succeeded  in  securing  a  supply 
of  firewater  sufficient  to  obliterate  for  the  time  being  the  memory 
of  his  troubles.  On  one  occasion  the  hermit,  visiting  Cassopolis 
to  dispose  of  his  wares,  had  his  attention  attracted  by  a  group  of 
men  and  boys  on  the  village  street  who  were  being  harangued  by 
an  Indian.  Shavehead,  for  it  was  he,  partially  intoxicated,  was 

««•  For  the  story  of  Job  Wright  see  Mathews,  History  of  Cass  County,  Michigan,  65-66; 
Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XIV,  265-67. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  259 

gesticulating  wildly,  relating  the  warlike  exploits  of  his  stormy 
past.  As  the  white  man  paused  to  listen,  the  old  chief  was 
describing  the  massacre  at  Fort  Dearborn,  and  the  slaughter  of 
the  women  and  children  around  the  baggage  wagons.  As  he 
proceeded  with  his  boastings  the  hermit  muttered  words  of 
recognition,  and  involuntarily  drew  his  gun  from  his  shoulder  as 
though  to  terminate  Shavehead's  recital  together  with  his  life; 
he,  too,  had  fought  near  the  baggage  wagons.  Changing  his 
mind,  however,  he  listened  patiently  to  the  end,  but  when  at 
sundown  the  Indian  left  the  town  the  soldier  followed  on  his 
track.  "The  red  man  and  the  white  passed  into  the  shade  of  the 
forest;  the  soldier  returned  alone.  Chief  Shavehead  was  never 
seen  again.  He  had  paid  the  penalty  of  his  crime  to  one  who 
could,  with  some  fitness,  exact  it."6si 

Such  is  the  story  of  Shavehead  and  the  hermit  of  Diamond 
Lake  Island.  So  complete  is  it  in  its  tragic  fitness  that  one  would 
fain  believe  it.  Yet,  though  it  received  the  approval  of  Edward 
G.  Mason,  it  must  be  pronounced  purely  mythical,  at  least  so 
far  as  its  connection  with  Fort  Dearborn  is  concerned.  That 
Shavehead  and  Job  Wright  are  historical  characters  in  the  early 
settlement  of  Cass  County  is  clear.  That  the  former  took  part 
in  the  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre  is  possible,  and  even  probable. 
But  that  he  met  his  death  at  the  hands  of  Job  Wright  there 
is  no  proof  whatsoever.  Various  other  accounts  exist,  in  fact, 
having  apparently  an  equal  claim  on  our  credulity  with  the  one 
already  cited,  of  the  manner  in  which  Shavehead  met  his  end.6s* 
Furthermore  there  is  no  evidence  that  Job  Wright  was  a  member 
of  the  Fort  Dearborn  garrison  in  1812.  On  the  contrary,  that  he 
was  not  may  be  stated  with  a  positiveness  bordering  on  certainty. 
That  he  was  not  a  member  of  Heald's  company  is  shown  by  the 
muster-roll  of  the  garrison  for  May  31,  1812,  while  the  possibility 
of  his  belonging  to  the  militia  is  negatived  by  the  positive 
statements  of  both  Heald  and  Helm  that  all  of  the  latter  were 
slain. 

««•  Mason,  Chapters  from  Illinois  History,  321. 
«s'  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XIV,  266-67. 


260  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

It  remains  to  relate  what  is  perhaps  the  strangest  tale  of  all, 
concerning  the  survivors  of  the  massacre.  For  it  we  are  indebted 
to  Moses  Morgan,  whose  share  in  the  building  of  the  second  Fort 
Dearborn  has  already  been  explained.6"  In  October,  1816,  two 
of  the  men  detailed  to  select  timber  for  the  work  of  construction 
proceeded  in  a  skiff  far  up  the  North  Branch,  when  they  came 
upon  a  half-concealed  Indian  hut.  They  were  first  apprised  of 
its  proximity  by  the  shrill  shrieks  of  the  squaws,  who  had  seen  their 
boat  as  it  approached.  As  they  turned  their  skiff  to  retreat  they 
heard  the  voice  of  a  white  man,  imploring  them  to  stop  and  talk 
with  him.  The  man  spoke  good  English,  indifferent  French, 
and  poor  Winnebago.  He  informed  them  that  he  was  one  of  the 
members  of  Heald's  company.  He  had  been  wounded  in  the 
battle,  but  was  mercifully  saved  by  an  elderly  squaw,  whom  he 
had  often  provided  with  something  to  eat.  She  prevented  the 
Indians  from  scalping  him,  and  with  the  help  of  her  girls  moved 
him  across  the  river  and  put  him  under  some  bushes.  Here  they 
cared  for  him,  attending  to  his  wounds,  although  both  they  and 
he  suffered  much  from  lack  of  food.  As  soon  as  he  could  be 
moved  the  women  tied  him  onto  a  flat  piece  of  timber  taken  from 
the  burnt  fort,  and  dragged  him  to  a  small  lake  some  forty  miles 
to  the  northward.  Here  he  found  himself  compelled  to  take  the 
old  squaw  for  a  wife  or  perish  from  starvation.  Upon  her  sud- 
den death,  a  year  before  the  visit  of  the  sawyers,  he  had  taken 
the  two  oldest  girls  to  be  his  squaws.  There  was  a  third  girl, 
younger  than  these,  and  the  three  women  and  himself  com- 
prised the  inmates  of  the  hut. 

When  the  sawyers  reported  their  discovery  at  the  encamp- 
ment it  was  feared  the  squaws  would  spirit  away  their  common 
husband.  On  the  following  day  the  surgeon,  Doctor  Gale, 
accompanied  the  sawyers  to  the  hut,  taking  a  boat  load  of 
presents  for  the  squaws.  It  appeared  that  the  inmates  were 
about  to  change  their  location,  and  as  a  preliminary  step  the 
soldier  had  taken  the  youngest  girl  to  be  his  third  wife.  She  was 
then  one  hundred  and  fifty  moons,  or  thirteen  years  old,  but  had 

6»  Supra,  p.  134. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS          261 

desired  to  be  married  before  leaving  the  vicinity  of  her  mother's 
burial  place. 

Doctor  Gale  examined  the  man's  wounds  and  found  that  they 
had  healed,  but  with  unnecessarily  poor  results,  one  leg  being 
shortened  and  one  arm  of  little  use.  The  doctor  took  down  his 
name  and  other  personal  details,  and  listened  to  his  story  of 
the  massacre.  He  refused  to  return  to  civilization  as  long  as 
the  squaws  would  live  with  him  and  care  for  him;  but  he 
promised  to  bring  them  to  visit  the  encampment,  exacting, 
however,  a  promise  that  the  little  squaw  should  not  be  ridiculed 
by  the  soldiers.  Nothing  more  was  ever  seen  of  the  man,  a  fact 
not  much  to  be  wondered  at.  The  surgeon  wrote  out  his  account 
of  the  interview  and  handed  it,  together  with  the  memoranda  he 
had  made,  to  the  adjutant,  by  whom  in  some  manner  it  was  lost. 
That  the  story  did  not,  like  the  wounded  soldier,  pass  into  com- 
plete oblivion  is  owing  to  the  quite  accidental  circumstance  of  its 
narration  by  Moses  Morgan  to  Head,  whose  interest  in  Chicago 
history  led  him  to  preserve  it. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN 

The  British  negotiators  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  which  brought 
the  War  of  1812  to  a  close  made  strenuous  efforts  to  compel  the 
renunciation  by  the  United  States  of  its  sovereignty  over  all  of 
that  portion  of  the  old  Northwest  not  included  within  the  line 
drawn  by  the  Treaty  of  Greenville  of  1795.  The  avowed  object 
of  this  provision  was  to  erect  a  permanent  barrier  between  the 
United  States  and  the  possessions  of  Great  Britain  in  that  region 
by  forever  securing  the  territory  thus  surrendered  by  the  former 
to  the  Indians.  The  American  representatives  refused  even  to 
consider  this  proposition,  however,  and  in  the  end  the  British 
were  compelled  to  abandon  it.  Their  contention  that  the  Indian 
should  be  admitted  as  a  party  to  the  treaty  was  also  abandoned, 
and,  as  finally  agreed  upon,  it  provided  for  a  better  definition  of 
the  boundaries  between  the  two  nations,  but  for  no  surrender 
of  territory  on  either  side. 

The  counterpart  for  the  Northwest  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent 
was  the  negotiation  during  the  summer  of  1815,  by  two  commis- 
sions representing  the  United  States,  of  over  a  score  of  treaties 
with  the  various  tribes  of  that  region.654  One  commission,  con- 
sisting of  Governor  Edwards  of  Illinois  and  Governor  Clark  of 
Missouri  Territory  and  Auguste  Chouteau,  the  St.  Louis  Indian 
trader,  met  the  diplomats  of  the  red  race  at  Portage  des  Sioux 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River;  the  other,  composed  of 
General  Harrison,  General  Duncan  McArthur,  and  John  Graham, 
conducted  its  negotiations  at  Spring  Wells  near  Detroit.  Except 
for  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  who  manifested  a  belligerent  attitude  for 
some  months  longer,  the  autumn  of  1815  witnessed  the  con- 
clusion of  treaty  making  and  the  formal  restoration  of  peace  to 

•«  For  the  treaties  and  accompanying  documents  see  American  Stale  Papers,  Indian 
A£airs,  II,  1-26. 

262 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  263 

the  harassed  northwestern  frontier.  But  the  British  influence 
over  the  tribes  was  still  powerful,  despite  the  bitterness  of  the 
red  men  over  their  desertion,  as  they  chose  to  regard  it,  by  their 
former  ally.  The  American  influence  over  the  tribes  of  Wiscon- 
sin and  the  territory  farther  west  was  as  yet  but  slight.655  Though 
nominally  this  region  had  long  acknowledged  the  sovereignty  of 
the  United  States,  in  fact  it  had  remained  commercially  depend- 
ent upon  Great  Britain;  and  the  British  possessed,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  the  sympathy  and  affection  of  the  red  man. 

With  the  restoration  of  peace,  therefore,  it  remained  for  the 
Americans  to  establish  an  effective  control  over  the  northwestern 
tribes.  The  dominance  of  the  British  trader  over  them  must  be 
broken,  and  to  this  end  garrisons  must  be  scattered  throughout 
the  country  to  overcome  the  tribes  and  give  countenance  to  the 
American  traders  in  their  efforts  to  compete  successfully  with 
their  British  rivals. 

How  the  situation  was  viewed  by  well-informed  Americans 
may  be  learned  from  a  letter  written  by  Lewis  Cass  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  in  the  spring  of  i8i6.6s<s  Calling  attention  to 
the  indications  of  a  renewal  by  the  British  Indian  Department 
of  its  old  aggressive  attitude  with  reference  to  the  Indians  of 
the  United  States,  Cass  pointed  out  the  existence  of  three  great 
channels  for  carrying  on  trade  between  Canada  and  the  Indians 
of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  country.  These  were,  first,  by 
way  of  Chicago  and  the  Illinois  River;  second,  by  Green  Bay 
and  the  Fox- Wisconsin  waterway;  third,  from  Lake  Superior  to 
the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi.  Of  these  the  great  channel 
at  that  time  was  the  second.  Through  it  great  quantities  of 
goods  were  smuggled  into  the  Indian  country  of  the  United 
States.  This  practice  could  be  cut  off,  Cass  urged,  so  far  as  the 
Illinois  and  the  Fox- Wisconsin  river  routes  were  concerned,  by 
the  establishment  of  garrisons  at  Green  Bay  and  Chicago.  To 
stop  smuggling  altogether,  however,  there  must  also  be  a  post 
near  the  Grand  Portage. 

*5s  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  xii. 
M  Ibid.,  XIX,  376-79- 


264  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Almost  a  year  before  this  John  Kinzie  had  transmitted  to 
Cass  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  re-establishment  of  a  garrison 
at  Chicago  to  take  the  place  of  the  one  that  had  been  destroyed 
in  the  massacre  of  i8i2.6sv  Kinzie  was,  of  course,  greatly  in- 
terested in  the  adoption  of  this  proposal,  for  it  would  make 
possible  the  renewal  by  him  under  favorable  conditions  of  the 
pursuit  of  a  livelihood  at  Chicago.  He  pointed  out  that  the 
hostility  for  the  Americans  of  the  tribes  around  Lake  Michigan, 
between  Mackinac  and  the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  was  mainly 
due  to  their  intercourse  with  the  traders  of  the  Southwest 
Company,  who  were  hostile  to  the  American  traders.  Because 
of  lack  of  game  these  tribes  were  forced  to  migrate  at  certain 
seasons  to  the  waters  of  the  Fox,  Chicago,  and  Illinois  rivers, 
and  as  an  incident  to  this  migration  they  generally  rendezvoused 
at  Chicago  in  the  spring.  For  this  reason  a  garrison  there  was 
necessary  to  preserve  order  among  the  Indians  and  to  restrain 
the  British  traders,  whose  influence  would  ever  keep  them  hostile 
to  the  United  States. 

Before  the  close  of  the  summer  of  1815  the  government 
determined  not  only  to  establish  garrisons  at  Chicago  and  Green 
Bay,  but  to  reoccupy  Prairie  du  Chien  and  erect  a  new  fort  at 
Rock  Island  on  the  Mississippi,  and  another  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.658  At  the  same  time  it  was  planned  to 
restore  the  government  factory  at  Chicago  for  the  conduct  of 
the  Indian  trade,  and  to  establish  new  factories  at  Green  Bay 
and  Prairie  du  Chien.659  To  the  Third  Infantry  under  Colonel 
Miller,  then  stationed  at  Detroit,  was  allotted  the  duty  of  gar- 
risoning the  forts  at  Mackinac,  Green  Bay,  and  Chicago.660 
Colonel  Miller  with  his  station  at  Mackinac  was  to  have  com- 
mand of  the  three  posts.  Two  companies,  Bradley's  and  Baker's, 
were  destined  for  Chicago.  In  the  absence  of  Major  Baker,  the 

'»  Kinzie  to  Cass,  July  15,  1815;  Indian  Office,  Book  204,  Letter  Book  I,  90. 

6s»  Flagler,  History  of  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal,  14-16;  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections, 
XIX,  376-89.  The  decision  to  restore  Fort  Dearborn  was  reached  at  least  as  early  as  June, 
1815  (ibid.,  384). 

•«»  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIX,  380-84. 

«*•  Drennan  Papers,  Department  orders  dated  Detroit,  June  7  and  8,  1816. 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  265 

ranking  officer,  Captain  Hezekiah  Bradley,  commanded  the 
detachment.  The  companies  comprising  the  Green  Bay  con- 
tingent were  ordered  to  embark  June  g.661  Whether  the  Chicago 
detachment  accompanied  them  on  their  way  does  not  appear, 
but  on  June  30  it  was  on  board  the  schooner  "General  Wayne" 
off  the  "Manitoo"  Island  in  Lake  Michigan.  Here  the  first 
inspection  was  held,  and  a  roster  of  the  companies  was  made.662 
Of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  men  enrolled  in  the  two 
companies  one  hundred  and  twelve  were  present  on  this  expe- 
dition. 

On  July  4  the  expedition  arrived  at  Chicago.  The  public 
buildings  were  found  to  have  been  entirely  destroyed  with 
the  exception  of  the  magazine,  which  was  badly  damaged.663 
Numerous  small  parties  of  Indians  visited  the  soldiers  during 
the  first  few  weeks,  but  no  hostility  was  manifested  by  them. 
But  one  account  preserves  the  details  of  the  events  attending 
the  construction  of  the  new  Fort  Dearborn,  and  this  one  is 
rambling  and  unreliable.664  It  relates  that  some  Detroit  traders, 
foreseeing  a  demand  for  vegetables  upon  the  arrival  of  the 
garrison,  had  sent  some  Canadian  half-breeds  to  Chicago  in  the 
spring  of  1816  to  start  a  truck  garden.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the 
"General  Wayne"  the  troops  landed  and  a  temporary  camp  for 
the  protection  of  themselves  and  the  stores  was  established 
in  a  pasture  near  the  old  fort.  Some  garden  seeds  had  been 
brought  along,  and  one  of  the  first  tasks  was  to  prepare  a  garden. 
Two  half-breeds,  Alexander  Robinson  and  Ouilmette,  and  their 
squaws  with  their  ponies  were  engaged  to  prepare  the  ground. 
With  the  aid  of  the  soldiers  the  task  was  soon  accomplished; 
but  whether  from  the  lateness  of  the  season  or  for  some  other 
reason,  the  gardening  experiment  was  not  a  success.  The 
Canadian  gardeners,  who  had  planted  in  May  about  four  miles 

"•  For  a  short  account  of  the  establishment  of  the  fort  at  Green  Bay  see  Neville, 
Historic  Green  Bay,  chap.  vi. 

<*'  Drennan  Papers,  Fort  Dearborn  post  returns. 
•«»  Ibid.,  Bradley  to  Parker,  August  3,  1816. 
"« Head  Papers,  narrative  of  Moses  Morgan. 


266  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

up  the  South  Branch,  brought  in  vegetables  for  sale  to  the 
garrison  at  high  prices. 

Meanwhile  the  construction  of  the  fort  was  being  prosecuted. 
In  addition  to  the  garrison,  pit-sawyers  and  other  workmen  had 
been  brought  from  Detroit.  A  grove  of  pine  trees  near  the 
lake  shore  about  four  miles  north  of  the  river  was  selected,  and 
the  logs  were  rolled  into  the  lake  and  rafted  down  to  the  mouth 
of  the  river  and  up  the  stream  to  a  point  opposite  the  site  of  the 
fort.  Bands  of  Indians  straggled  around  the  buildings  to  gaze 
at  the  work  of  construction,  beg  for  tobacco,  and  pilfer  any 
unguarded  tools  that  might  be  concealed  under  their  blankets. 
The  visits  of  the  squaws  and  their  papooses  to  the  camp  became 
so  frequent  and  obnoxious  that  a  heavier  detail  was  required  to 
mount  guard  by  day  to  keep  them  away  from  the  tents  than  was 
necessary  by  night.  A  detail  of  soldiers  guarded  the  pit-sawyers 
at  the  pine  grove  on  the  north  shore,  who  were  engaged  in  cutting 
out  the  sawn  lumber  for  roofs  and  floors.  The  Indians  remained 
peaceable,  but  the  sawyers'  fears  of  them  were  easily  excited. 
From  this  unpromising  situation  a  real  romance  shortly  developed. 
The  disappearance  of  two  of  the  Canadian  pit-sawyers,  who  when 
last  seen  were  in  the  company  of  an  Indian,  intensified  the  fears 
of  their  associates.  Their  anxiety  was  soon  relieved  by  the 
reappearance  of  the  men  accompanied  by  two  young  squaws 
whom  they  had  taken  to  wife.  They  had  determined  to  take  up 
their  abode  with  a  band  of  Indians  residing  on  the  Calumet,  and 
had  returned  to  demand  their  saws  and  the  wages  that  were  due 
them.  Their  requests  were  satisfied  and  they  were  allowed  to 
depart,  but  not  until  the  adjutant  had  read  the  marriage  serv- 
ice to  them  and  the  garrison  and  workmen  had  celebrated  the 
occasion  with  a  holiday. 

A  few  months  after  the  arrival  of  the  garrison  Major  Long 
of  the  engineer  department  of  the  army,  who  was  to  acquire 
fame  several  years  later  as  an  explorer,  came  to  Chicago  in  search 
of  information  for  a  topographical  report  which  he  was  preparing 
on  the  region  roughly  corresponding  to  the  modern  states  of 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  267 

Illinois  and  Indiana.665  He  found  that  the  construction  of  the 
fort  had  been  pushed  with  commendable  industry,  and  reported 
that  it  would  probably  be  brought  to  completion  in  the  course 
of  the  following  season.  It  was  on  a  point  of  land  formed  by  a 
bend  in  the  river  about  eight  hundred  yards  from  its  mouth. 
Curiously  enough  he  reported  that  a  more  eligible  site  for  the 
fort  was  afforded  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  .on  the  point 
of  land  between  it  and  the  lake.  This  location  would  more 
completely  command  the  entrance  to  the  river,  and  would  also 
command  the  anchorage  to  a  considerable  extent.  Perhaps  the 
reason  for  this  dissent  from  the  judgment  of  the  officers  who  had 
located  the  first  and  second  forts  may  be  inferred  from  Long's 
recommendation  that  the  position  he  approved  should  be  fortified 
in  a  manner  calculated  to  resist  any  naval  force  that  might  be 
brought  against  it.  Evidently  he  had  in  contemplation  the 
possibility  of  another  war  with  Great  Britain,  while  both  the  first 
and  second  Fort  Dearborn  were  designed  to  afford  protection 
against  Indian  attacks  only. 

With  the  fort  constructed  and  the  garrison  re-established, 
life  at  Chicago  assumed  in  the  main  the  aspects  which  it  had 
borne  before  the  massacre.  Fort  Dearborn  was  no  longer,  as  in 
the  old  days,  the  farthest  outpost  of  the  United  States  in  the 
Northwest,  but  it  was  still  only  an  isolated  wilderness  station. 
Fort  Wayne  was  the  nearest  post-office,  and  between  this  place 
and  Chicago  the  mail  was  carried  by  foot  soldiers  once  or  twice 
a  month.666  Other  agencies  for  maintaining  connection  with  the 
outside  world  were  few  and  irregular.  The  conduct  of  the 
business  pertaining  to  the  garrison  and  the  operations  connected 
with  the  prosecution  of  the  fur  trade  were  responsible  for  most 

•*»  The  report  is  printed  in  full  in  the  National  Register,  III,  193-98. 

«*  In  describing  Chicago  in  1818  Hubbard  says  (Life,  38)  once  a  month.  A  report  of 
the  Post-Office  Department,  January  14,  1825  (American  State  Papers,  Vol.  XV,  Post- 
Office  Department,  136),  shows  that  at  that  time  the  mail  was  carried  between  Fort  Wayne 
and  Green  Bay  once  a  month.  J.  Watson  Webb,  who  was  post  adjutant  at  Fort  Dearborn 
in  1821-22  states  (Letter  to  John  Wentworth,  October  31,  1882)  that  he  sent  a  sergeant 
and  a  private  to  Fort  Wayne  fortnightly  to  bring  the  mail  for  Chicago  and  Green  Bay,  and 
that  a  similar  detail  from  the  latter  place  was  always  on  hand  to  receive  and  carry  forward 
the  mail  destined  for  that  place. 


268  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

of  them.  The  provisions  for  the  garrison  were  for  the  most  part 
brought  around  the  lakes  in  schooners,  although  the  live  stock 
destined  to  supply  the  soldiers  with  fresh  meat  was  sometimes 
driven  overland  to  Chicago.667  The  historian  of  Major  Long's 
expedition  reported  in  1823  that  the  total  annual  lake  trade  of 
Chicago,  including  the  transportation  of  supplies  for  the  garrison, 
did  not  exceed  the  cargo  of  five  or  six  schooners.668 

The  existence  of  war  interrupted  but  did  not  entirely  prevent 
the  conduct  of  the  Indian  trade  at  Chicago.  The  business  of 
the  American  traders  was  broken  up,  but  their  lives  were  safe, 
even  in  the  midst  of  the  slaughter  which  attended  the  massacre.66' 
The  winter  following  the  massacre  two  French  traders,  Du  Pain 
and  Buisson,  established  themselves  with  a  stock  of  goods  in  the 
abandoned  house  of  John  Kinzie.670  What  success  they  met 
with,  or  whether  they  returned  in  the  following  years,  does  not 
appear,  but  the  needs  of  the  Indians  were  supplied  to  some 
extent  by  Robert  Dickson,  whose  plans  for  stirring  up  the  north- 
western tribes  against  the  Americans  necessitated  the  sending  of 
large  quantities  of  goods  to  Chicago  to  distribute  among  his  red 
allies.671  The  restoration  of  Fort  Dearborn  was  the  signal  for 
the  return  of  the  American  traders  to  Chicago.  Among  the 
early  arrivals  was  John  Crafts,  the  representative  of  a  Detroit 

"'  Keating,  Expedition  to  the  Source  of  St.  Peter's  River,  I,  183.  A  letter  from  Captain 
Bradley  of  Fort  Dearborn  in  the  winter  of  1816  (Drennan  Papers,  Bradley  to  McComb, 
December  3,  1816)  announces  that  "a  drove  of  hogs  consisting  of  about  three  hundred 
recently  arrived  here  for  the  contractor."  At  the  time  of  the  Chicago  Treaty  of  1821  two 
hundred  head  of  cattle  were  driven  from  Brownstown  to  Chicago  to  supply  fresh  meat  for 
the  Indians  in  attendance  on  the  negotiations  (Schoolcraft,  Travels  in  the  Central  Portions 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  375).  In  June  of  this  same  year  Rev.  Isaac  McCoy,  while  travel- 
ing from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  River  to  Fort  Wayne,  met  a  party  engaged  in  driving 
cattle  through  the  wilderness  to  Chicago  (McCoy,  History  of  Baptist  Indian  Missions, 
108-9). 

M*  Keating,  op.  tit.,  I,  164. 

«» Kinzie  and  all  his  family  passed  through  the  massacre  unscathed.  Thomas 
Forsyth  came  to  Chicago  the  day  after  the  massacre  and  remained  with  the  Kinzies 
several  days  (supra,  note  632). 

«»•  Supra,  note  613.  Mrs.  Kinzie  gives  the  name  as  Du  Pin  (Wau  Bun,  100).  Her 
story  of  his  rescue  of  Mrs.  Lee  and  her  baby  from  captivity  and  threatened  matrimony  at 
the  hands  of  Black  Partridge  has  already  been  told  (p.  255). 

'"  For  a  list  of  the  goods  to  be  sent  from  Mackinac  to  Chicago  for  Dickson  at  the 
opening  of  navigation  in  the  spring  of  1813  see  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XV,  224. 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  269 

firm,  who  is  said  to  have  established  himself  at  Chicago  some 
time  during  the  year  i8i6.672  His  trading  house  was  on  the 
South  Branch,  not  far  from  the  Lee  Cabin,  where  the  murders 
of  April,  1812,  occurred.  Crafts  pursued  his  calling  with  success 
for  several  years,  but  the  competition  of  the  American  Fur 
Company  at  last  proved  too  strong,  and  in  1822  his  establish- 
ment passed  into  its  possession.  Crafts  became  its  employee 
at  the  same  time,  and  continued  to  reside  at  Chicago  until  his 
death,  several  years  later. 

John  Kinzie's  interest  in  the  restoration  of  Fort  Dearborn 
has  already  been  noted.  The  exact  date  of  his  return  to  Chicago 
is  uncertain,  but  it  apparently  occurred  during  the  latter  half 
of  the  year  1816.  In  an  affidavit  made  September  14,  1816, 
Kinzie  described  himself  as  "of  the  city  of  Detroit."673  The 
last  entry  in  his  account  book  at  Detroit  bears  date  of  June  16, 
1816,  and  the  first  entry  at  Chicago  occurs  on  January  10,  follow- 
ing.674 From  the  same  source  we  learn  that  the  revival  of 
Kinzie's  commercial  activities  at  Chicago  was  coincident  with 
the  return  of  the  garrison;  for  under  date  of  June  13  occurs  the 
invoice  of  a  "Chicago  Adventure,"  followed  three  days  later  by 
a  second.  The  principal  items  of  the  first  invoice  are  butter  and 
whisky — four  kegs  and  ten  pounds  of  the  former,  and  two 
barrels,  containing  sixty-eight  gallons,  of  the  latter.  The  con- 
tents of  the  second  invoice  pertain  wholly  to  live  stock,  the 
principal  items  being  five  head  of  oxen  and  a  mare  and  colt. 

The  Kinzie  family  was  again  established  in  the  old  home 
and  the  trader  resumed  his  calling.  He  seems  never  to  have 
recovered,  however,  the  leading  position  as  a  trader  which  he 
held  before  the  war.  Within  a  few  months  after  his  return  to 
Chicago  he  arranged  with  Varnum  and  Jouett  to  act  as  inter- 
preter for  both  the  factory  and  the  Indian  agency,  and  relin- 

•"On  Crafts  see  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  passim;  Andreas,  History  of  Chicago, 
Vol.  I,  passim.  It  is  usually  said  that  he  was  in  the  employ  of  Mack  and  Conant  of  Detroit, 
but  Hurlbut  suggests  (Chicago  Antiquities,  409)  that  Abraham  Edwards  was  his  employer. 

«7j  Copy  of  affidavit  concerning  the  wounds  received  by  Heald  in  the  Chicago  massacre, 
MS  in  possession  of  Mr.  Wright  Johnson  of  Rutherford,  New  Jersey. 

"« Barry  Transcript. 


270  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

quished  his  trade  with  the  Indians.675  He  continued  to  act  as 
interpreter  for  some  time,  and  several  years  later,  when  Wolcott 
had  succeeded  Jouett  as  Indian  agent  at  Chicago,  Kinzie  was 
appointed  subagent,  receiving  separate  compensation  for  each 
appointment.676  In  addition  to  his  services  with  the  govern- 
ment he  again  entered  into  the  Indian  trade  during  these  years, 
part  of  the  time  on  his  own  account,  and  later,  according  to 
Hubbard,  as  an  employee  of  the  American  Fur  Company.677 

An  important  part  of  the  life  at  Chicago  in  this  period 
centered  in  the  government  Indian  establishment,  the  restora- 
tion of  which  was  coincident  with  the  return  of  the  garrison  to 
Fort  Dearborn.  During  the  year  1815  Charles  Jouett  received 
the  appointment  of  Indian  agent,  and  Jacob  B.  Varnum  was 
designated  as  factor.6''8  Jouett  had  been  agent  at  Chicago  for 
several  years  prior  to  the  War  of  1812,  but  had  resigned  in  the 
year  1811  and  settled  in  Mercer  County,  Kentucky.679  He  now 
returned  to  the  government  service  and  to  his  old  position  at 
Chicago.  His  residence  during  this  second  incumbency  was  a 
log  house  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  possibly  the  same  house 
which  had  sheltered  the  Burns  family  in  the  period  before  the 
massacre.  It  was  far  from  adequate  to  the  needs  of  Jouett's 
family,  and  in  1817  he  complained  bitterly  of  it  and  of  the 
indifference  of  the  officers  of  the  garrison  concerning  his  plight.680 
The  house  he  described  as  "a  little  hut  that  a  man  of  humanity 
would  not  suffer  his  negroes  to  live  in."  It  was  fourteen  feet 
square,  with  but  a  single  chair,  which  Jouett  had  brought  with 
him  from  Kentucky,  and  there  were  nine  persons  in  the  family, 

'"  Indian  Department,  Letter  Book,  Cass  Correspondence,  Kinzie  to  Cass,  January 
25,  1817;  Jouett  to  Cass,  January  25,  1817.  All  of  the  Indian  Department  letter  books  to 
be  cited  are  preserved  in  the  Pension  Building  at  Washington. 

*'6  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Afairs,  II,  365. 

'"  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  31. 

"» Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIX,  380-95.  Jouett  was  first  appointed  agent 
at  Green  Bay  and  Colonel  John  Bowyer  agent  at  Chicago;  at  Jouett's  request,  however,  a 
change  was  made  in  the  appointments,  Jouett  going  as  agent  to  Chicago  and  Bowyer  to 
Green  Bay  (Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIX,  391-92,  399). 

6'»  On  Jouett  see  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  102  ff.;  Andreas,  History  of  Chicago,  87. 

"« Indian  Department,  Letter  Book,  Jouett  to  Cass,  February  i,  1817, 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  271 

including  servants,  to  be  accommodated.  Jouett's  indignant 
appeal  produced  little  result,  however.  When  Wolcott  succeeded 
him  as  agent  in  1819  he  found  the  agency  house  a  "mere  shell," 
which  necessitated  rebuilding  entirely  to  make  it  habitable.681 

Jouett  was  a  lawyer  by  training,-  and  both  before  and  after  his 
second  residence  at  Chicago  he  held  the  office  of  judge,  the  first 
time  in  Kentucky,  the  second  in  Arkansas  Territory.  He  was 
a  man  of  remarkable  physique,  six  feet  three  inches  in  height, 
broad-shouldered  and  muscular.  Among  the  Indians  he  was 
known  as  "the  White  Otter,"  and  it  is  said  that  he  possessed  a 
commanding  influence  over  them.  His  daughter  recalled  in 
after  years  that  the  red  men  were  frequent  visitors  at  her  father's 
home,  and  that  the  dusky  callers  were  especially  kind  to  the 
children,  her  sister  and  herself.  Their  nurse  was  an  Indian  girl, 
a  faithful  and  devoted  servant,  who  afterward  married  a  soldier 
of  the  garrison.  In  1819  Jouett  again  resigned  the  Indian 
agency  and  returned  to  Kentucky.  His  place  was  filled  by  the 
transfer  to  the  Chicago  agency  of  Doctor  Alexander  Wolcott, 
who  had  been  appointed  "Agent  to  the  Lakes,"  in  April,  i8i8.682 

Jacob  B.  Varnum,  Chicago's  only  government  factor  after 
the  War  of  1812,  belonged  to  an  old  and  prominent  New  England 
family.683  Through  the  family  influence  Varnum  secured,  when 
but  twenty-three  years  of  age,  the  appointment  as  government 
factor  at  Sandusky,  Ohio.684  He  remained  there  until  the  news 
of  Hull's  surrender  at  Detroit,  causing  the  precipitate  retreat  of 
the  Ohio  militia  from  Sandusky,  compelled  the  abandonment  of 
the  factory.  Varnum  thereupon  entered  the  army  and  served 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  On  the  return  of  peace,  finding 
himself  without  an  occupation,  he  applied  for  a  position  in  the 

"« Indian  Department,  Cass  correspondence,  Wolcott  to  Cass,  January  i,  1820. 

"•  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  D,  241,  Calhoun  to  Wolcott,  April  22,  1818;  ibid.,  277, 
Calhoun  to  Wolcott,  March  27,  i8ig. 

*•>  For  it  see  Varnum,  The  Varnums  of  Dracutt.  James  Mitchell  Varnum  was  a 
brigadier-general  during  the  Revolution.  His  brother,  Joseph  B.  Varnum,  was  speaker 
of  the  lower  house  of  Congress  from  1807  to  1811,  and  United  States  senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts, from  1811  to  1817. 

68<  The  account  which  follows  is  based  upon  the  journal  of  Jacob  B.  Varnum. 


272  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Department  of  Indian  Trade,  and  in  the  summer  of  1815  was 
appointed  factor  at  Chicago. 

At  this  time  it  was  the  expectation  of  the  department  to 
establish  the  factory  before  the  winter  set  in.68s  On  receiving 
the  news  of  his  appointment  Varnum  set  out  for  Erie  by  way  of 
Buffalo,  where  he  met  Matthew  Irwin,  who  had  been  factor  at 
Chicago  before  the  war  and  was  now  en  route  to  establish  the 
new  factory  at  Green  Bay.  After  a  rough  passage  from  Buffalo 
to  Erie,  in  "a  miserable  apology  for  a  schooner,"  the  officials 
learned  that  the  goods  for  the  Indian  trade,  which  were  to  have 
preceded  them  thither,  had  not  arrived,  and  that  the  movement 
of  the  military  to  Chicago  and  Green  Bay  had  been  postponed 
to  the  following  year.  This  involved  the  postponement  of  the 
establishment  of  the  factories  as  well;  nevertheless  the  naval 
commander  at  Erie  resolved  to  take  the  goods,  should  they 
arrive  in  time,  on  to  Mackinac  that  season,  there  to  await  the 
departure  of  the  military  expedition  in  the  spring.  Irwin  there- 
upon returned  to  his  home,  while  it  was  agreed  that  Varnum 
should  go  on  to  Mackinac  in  charge  of  the  goods. 

Varnum's  narrative  of  the  autumn  voyage  through  the  lakes 
from  Erie  to  Mackinac  presents  a  vivid  picture  of  the  discom- 
forts and  dangers  of  travel  on  the  Great  Lakes  a  century  ago. 
The  expedition  consisted  of  two  government  vessels,  the  "Por- 
cupine" and  the  "Ghent."  The  naval  officers  considered  them- 
selves insulted  and  degraded  by  the  menial  service  of  transport- 
ing merchandise.  They  therefore  took  no  pains  to  protect  the 
goods  from  ruin  by  water,  and  but  little,  apparently,  to  promote 
the  comfort  of  the  luckless  factor.  At  Detroit  a  lady  was  given 
passage  to  Mackinac.  In  order  to  make  room  for  her  Varnum 
had  to  surrender  the  berth  he  had  occupied  thus  far,  and  received 
in  exchange  for  it  one  so  near  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  that  in 
rough  weather  the  bilge  water  would  spurt  into  it,  keeping  it 
wet  most  of  the  time. 

The  commander  was  a  "perfect  tyrant,"  as  far  as  his  power 
extended,  and  Varnum  avers  that  during  the  four  weeks  they 

"»  Varnum's  Journal;  Mason  to  Varnum,  August  20,  1815,  Wisconsin  Historical 
Collections,  XIX,  391-95- 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  273 

were  together  he  witnessed  the  infliction  of  more  severe  and  often 
undeserved  punishments  than  during  all  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  The  stories  of  the  floggings  meted  out  by  the  commander's 
orders  sicken  the  reader,  after  the  lapse  of  a  century,  as  they  did 
the  helpless  witness  at  the  time.  On  the  second  day  out  the 
negro  cook,  with  whom  the  commander  professed  he  would  not 
part  for  his  weight  in  gold,  was  given  a  dozen  lashes  because  his 
master  conceived  the  meat  was  not  sufficiently  cooked.  A  sailor 
possessed  of  an  undue  propensity  for  liquor  had  been  unmerci- 
fully flogged  for  getting  drunk,  and  threatened  with  a  hundred 
lashes  upon  a  repetition  of  the  offense.  Notwithstanding  this 
the  offense  was  repeated.  The  delinquent  was  ordered  stripped 
and  lashed  to  the  shrouds.  Varnum  went  below  to  escape 
witnessing  the  scene.  In  due  time  the  commander  came  down, 
raging  because  the  culprit  had  borne  the  torture  so  stoically. 
After  receiving  a  hundred  lashes  without  uttering  a  groan  the 
tyrant  demanded  of  him  a  promise  not  to  repeat  the  offense, 
under  pain  upon  refusal  of  receiving  a  second  hundred  on  his 
now  raw  and  bloody  back.  The  torture  proceeded  and  seventeen 
lashes  had  been  administered  when  the  victim  gave  in,  making 
the  promise  required  and  begging  for  mercy.  At  the  entrance 
to  Lake  Huron  the  rapid  current  made  it  difficult  for  sailing 
vessels  to  steer  an  even  course.  Dissatisfied  with  the  helmsman's 
efforts  the  commander  ordered  a  fresh  man  to  the  wheel,  and  the 
one  who  had  been  relieved  received  a  dozen  lashes.  The  new 
steersman  promptly  encountered  the  same  difficulty  and  was  as 
promptly  relieved  and  flogged;  and  this  routine  was  kept  up 
until  every  seaman  on  board  had  taken  his  turn  at  the  wheel 
and  received  his  quota  of  lashes  before  the  vessel  got  into  the  lake. 
At  Mackinac  Varnum  opened  and  dried  the  goods  which  had 
been  wet,  and  then  settled  down  to  pass  the  long  winter.  Despite 
the  extreme  cold,  and  the  desolation  produced  by  the  recent  war, 
the  winter's  confinement  proved  to  be  one  of  the  pleasantest 
periods  of  his  whole  life.  He  had  a  comfortable  room  with  a 
good  stove  and  plenty  of  firewood.  The  days  were  spent  in 
reading,  or,  in  pleasant  weather,  in  excursions  to  the  nets  of  the 


274  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

fishermen  or  elsewhere.  The  evenings  were  devoted  to  social 
amusements  participated  in  by  the  merchants  and  the  officers 
of  the  garrison.  Among  the  latter  were  two  brothers  of  Franklin 
Pierce,  afterward  President  of  the  United  States,  one  of  whom, 
Captain  Benjamin  K.  Pierce,  wooed  and  married  a  half-breed 
French  and  Indian  girl.686 

Among  the  arrivals  on  the  first  vessel  in  the  spring  was  a 
beautiful  young  woman  from  Detroit  who  came  to  visit  her  aunt. 
Varnum  became  enamored  of  her,  and  a  romance  began  which 
was  to  culminate  sadly  enough  at  Chicago  only  a  year  later. 
The  impression  which  the  fair  stranger  made  upon  him  was  thus 
graphically  set  forth  after  the  lapse  of  half  a  century:  "She  was 
a  girl  of  polished  manners,  tall  and  graceful  in  her  walk,  and  of 
striking  symmetry  of  form.  Her  hair  was  auburn;  her  eyes 
dark  blue,  and  remarkably  transparent  skin  blended  with  a  due 
proportion  of  red.  I  thought  her  in  point  of  beauty  quite  equal 
to  any  lady  I  had  seen." 

That  the  young  girl's  beauty  had  a  real  existence,  apart  from 
the  imagination  of  the  fond  lover,  is  shown  by  the  reminiscences 
of  Mrs.  Baird  of  her  childhood  days  at  Mackinac.  After  a  lapse 
of  seventy  years  she  alluded  to  her  as  "a  beautiful  woman,  who 
was  married  at  Mackinac."687  Three  months  after  the  first 
meeting  the  beautiful  girl  became  Varnum's  bride,  the  marriage 
being  solemnized  by  Major  Puthuff  in  the  absence  of  any  minister 
of  the  gospel  at  Mackinac.  A  few  days  later  the  couple  embarked 
with  the  factory  goods  on  the  "Tiger"  bound  for  Chicago, 
whither  the  troops  under  Captain  Bradley  had  recently  preceded 
them.  On  their  arrival  the  skeleton  of  a  log  hut  on  the  south 
side  which  had  survived  the  destruction  in  1812  was  assigned  to 
Varnum  to  serve  both  as  a  store  and  as  a  dwelling.  It  was  about 
twenty  feet  square,  a  story  and  a  half  in  height,  and  without  a 
floor.  Varnum  caused  a  floor  of  puncheons  to  be  laid,  made  of 
logs  split  out  four  or  five  inches  thick  and  roughly  hewed  on  the 
face,  and  procured  the  erection  of  a  lean-to  for  a  kitchen.  A 

'»« Varnum's  Journal;   Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIV,  36,  40-41. 
••»  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIV,  26. 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  275 

large  portion  of  the  goods  were  stored  in  the  loft,  the  remainder 
being  deposited  with  Kinzie  for  retail  purposes. 

In  this  hovel  the  brief  period  of  the  wedded  life  of  the  young 
couple  was  passed.  According  to  the  chronicler  the  winter 
passed  "pleasantly  enough."  But  for  him  there  was  the  diver- 
sion of  his  business,  and  for  recreation  he  indulged  in  frequent 
hunting  excursions.  For  the  young  wife  no  relief  from  the  lonely 
monotony  and  the  grinding  hardship  of  such  an  existence  was 
possible.  With  the  coming  of  spring  she  fell  ill  from  approaching 
maternity.  They  had  no  servants,  and  there  was  no  possibility 
of  procuring  any,  but  fortunately  Mrs.  Varnum's  sister  came  on 
a  visit  and  afforded  assistance  during  the  time  of  trouble.  In 
June,  1817,  the  birth  occurred,  but  the  child  was  stillborn,  and 
the  trial  killed  the  mother.  The  simple  words  of  the  husband 
written  long  afterward  may  well  be  permitted  to  terminate  our 
recital  of  the  pathetic  tragedy:  "Its  long  suffering  mother 
survived  but  a  few  moments.  Thus  was  I  bereft  of  a  beloved 
wife  and  the  anticipated  hope  of  a  family.  The  mother  with 
the  child  in  her  arms  was  buried  a  few  yards  from  my  house, 
where  they  rested  when  I  left  Chicago,  1822." 

Two  years  passed,  when  Varnum  joined  a  horseback  party  on 
a  trip  to  Detroit.  With  the  hot  season  the  Indian  trade  ceased 
and  the  recreation  of  hunting  was  suspended.  Diversions  wholly 
failed,  and  the  principal  occupation  consisted  in  fighting  mosqui- 
toes. The  journey  would  involve  a  ride  of  seven  hundred  miles  in 
fly  time,  yet  Varnum  gladly  entered  upon  it  to  escape  the  deadly 
monotony  of  life  at  Chicago.  Aside  from  Varnum  the  party  con- 
sisted of  Major  Baker,  John  Dean,  who  had  come  to  Chicago 
as  an  army  contractor  in  1816,  and  a  guide.  The  route  taken  was 
by  way  of  Fort  Wayne  and  thence  down  the  Maumee  River  and 
on  to  Detroit.  The  destination  was  reached  after  eleven  days  of 
travel,  Varnum  making  his  entry  into  Detroit  after  nightfall,  cov- 
ered with  mud  from  head  to  foot  as  the  result  of  being  thrown 
from  his  horse  into  a  swamp  almost  at  the  end  of  the  journey. 

Detroit  was  at  that  time  a  small  village  where  each  person 
interested  himself  in  the  affairs  of  all  the  rest.  Upon  the  arrival 


276  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

of  Varnum  with  no  ostensible  business  the  ready  conclusion  was 
reached  that  he  had  come  in  search  of  a  wife.  Although  he 
denied  such  an  intention,  within  two  months  he  confirmed  the 
expectation  of  the  villagers  by  contracting  a  second  marriage 
alliance.  In  the  autumn  of  1819  he  embarked  with  his  wife 
and  her  sister  on  a  schooner  for  Chicago.  The  weather  was 
pleasant  and  the  company  jovial.  Arrived  at  Chicago  the  new 
wife  began  housekeeping  under  more  favorable  circumstances 
than  her  predecessor  had  done.  The  soldiers  had  constructed 
a  new  dwelling  for  the  factor,  under  Varnum's  superintendence; 
Mrs.  Varnum  had  brought  with  her  two  servants,  and  the  society 
of  the  place  had  improved  somewhat.  Several  of  the  officers 
had  brought  on  their  families,  and  a  spirit  of  friendliness  and 
sociability  prevailed,  evening  parties  with  dancing  and  other 
amusements  being  frequently  held. 

Among  the  inhabitants  of  Chicago  during  this  period  were 
several  who  had  figured  prominently  in  the  massacre  of  1812. 
About  the  time  of  Kinzie's  return  came  Lieutenant  Helm  and 
his  wife.688  In  1817  they  were  living  on  the  south  side  of  the 
river  in  a  small  square  house  without  a  floor.689  In  lieu  of  this 
a  tarpaulin  was  spread  down,  and  tarpaulin  was  also  hung  about 
the  walls.  No  one  has  taken  the  trouble,  apparently,  to  record 
the  duration  of  this  domestic  establishment.  Mrs.  Helm  con- 
tinued a  resident  of  Chicago  for  many  years,  and  frequent  men- 
tion of  her  later  doings  is  made  by  the  family  historian  in  the 
pages  of  Wau  Bun.  No  mention  of  Lieutenant  Helm  occurs, 
however,  and  even  the  fact  of  his  existence  is  ignored.  The 
reason  for  this  silence  is  perhaps  revealed  by  certain  court  records 
of  Peoria  County,  within  whose  boundaries  Chicago  was  for  a 
time  included.  These  show  that  in  1829  Helm  was  still  living, 
residing,  apparently,  in  Clay  County,  Illinois.6"  In  October 
of  this  year  Mrs.  Helm  received  a  divorce  from  him  together  with 
alimony  and  the  custody  of  their  child. 

"•  Helm's  name  appears  in  Kinzie's  account  book  in  January,  1817,  and  again  in 
January,  1818. 

«•»  Recollections  of  Mrs.  Baird,  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIV,  26. 
«»•  McCulloch,  Early  Days  of  Peoria  and  Chicago,  108. 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  277 

To  what  extent  Jean  Baptiste  Chandonnai  made  Chicago 
his  home  in  the  period  of  the  second  Fort  Dearborn  is  also 
somewhat  uncertain.  It  is  related  by  Mrs.  Baird  that  he  was 
here  in  the  employ  of  Kinzie  shortly  after  the  return  of  the  troops, 
and  his  wife,  coming  to  join  him,  was  a  passenger  from  Mackinac 
on  the  same  schooner  which  brought  Mrs.  Baird  and  her  mother 
to  Chicago.  The  date  of  this  visit  is  given  as  1816,  though  it 
seems  probable  it  actually  occurred  the  following  year.  During 
the  next  few  years  Chandonnai  was  engaged  in  the  fur  trade  in 
the  region  tributary  to  Chicago.691  What  the  Indians  received 
from  him  hi  exchange  for  their  furs  is  perhaps  sufficiently 
indicated  by  a  consignment  of  goods  sent  to  him  from  Mackinac, 
September  19,  1818,  consisting  of  four  barrels  of  whisky  and  six 
barrels  of  flour.  Evidently  the  order  had  called  for  a  larger 
quantity  of  fire-water,  for  the  consignment  was  accompanied  by 
the  explanation  that  no  more  liquor  could  be  promised  because 
of  its  dearness  and  "uncommon  scarcity."  The  next  year 
Chandonnai  betrayed  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the 
American  Fur  Company,  by  selling  his  furs  to  John  Crafts  and 
refusing  to  pay  the  company  for  the  merchandise  with  which 
he  had  procured  them.692  The  latter  appealed  to  Kinzie  to  exert 
his  influence  in  its  behalf.  That  he  did  so  with  good  effect  seems 
evident  from  a  later  letter  expressing  gratitude  for  his  exertions 
in  securing  the  payment  of  a  portion  of  the  claim  against  Chan- 
donnai. The  writer  urges  a  continuance  of  these  efforts,  and  asks 
if  a  mortgage  cannot  be  secured  on  the  lands  granted  to  Chan- 
donnai by  the  Indians.  What  was,  apparently,  the  sequel  to 
this  claim  appeared  fourteen  years  later  in  a  clause  of  the  Chicago 
Treaty  of  1833.  Among  the  grants  of  money  made  to  individuals 
was  the  sum  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  to  Chan- 
donnai, one  thousand  of  which  "by  the  particular  request"  of 
the  latter  was  to  be  paid  to  Robert  Stuart,  agent  of  the  American 
Fur  Company. 

«»« See  on  this  point  the  letters  of  Ramsey  Crooks  printed  in  Andreas,  History  of 
Chicago,  I,  94-95. 
•"Ibid.,  I,  95- 


278  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Perhaps  the  most  picturesque  character  in  the  little  group 
of  civilian  residents  of  Chicago  in  the  decade  which  began  with 
the  restoration  of  Fort  Dearborn  was  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien. 
He  was  descended  from  an  old  Canadian  family,  one  of  whose 
members  is  said  to  have  been  a  follower  of  La  Salle.  About  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  branch  of  the  family  estab- 
lished itself  at  Detroit,  where  the  future  citizen  of  Chicago  was 
born  in  the  year  lySy.693  He  early  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade, 
and  according  to  the  custom  of  the  time  married  a  squaw.  He 
is  said  to  have  had  a  daughter  born  at  Chicago  as  early  as  1805, 
but  the  details  both  of  his  early  migrations  and  of  his  marriage 
alliances  are  rather  hazy.  In  1814  he  married  Josette  La  Fram- 
boise, who  was  a  servant  in  the  family  of  John  Kinzie  at  the 
time  of  the  massacre.  How  soon  after  this  Beaubien  made 
Chicago  his  permanent  place  of  residence  is  not  certainly 
known,  but  in  1817  he  purchased  a  house  of  John  Dean,  the 
army  contractor,  and  thenceforth  continued  to  reside  on  the 
Fort  Dearborn  reservation  until,  in  the  early  thirties,  his  at- 
tempt to  gain  title  to  it  precipitated  the  struggle  over  the 
Beaubien  Land  Claim  which  became  famous  in  the  annals  of 
early  Chicago. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  life  of  Chicago  and  the  adjoining 
region  during  the  period  under  consideration  was  afforded  by  the 
periodical  visits  of  the  Illinois  "brigade"  of  the  American  Fur 
Company.  From  its  headquarters  at  Mackinac  each  autumn 
a  number  of  trading  outfits  departed  for  the  various  trading 
posts  scattered  throughout  the  Northwest.  Each  brigade  was 
composed  of  voyageurs  organized  into  boat  crews,  the  number 
of  the  latter  varying  with  the  importance  of  the  station  which 
constituted  the  destination  of  the  brigade.694  The  goods  were 
transported  in  bateaux,  each  manned  by  half  a  dozen  men  and 
carrying  about  three  tons  of  merchandise.  The  Illinois  brigade 
consisted  of  a  dozen  boats  carrying,  including  the  families  of  the 
traders,  about  a  hundred  persons. 

«•>  Beaubien  family  genealogy,  MS  in  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 

'»<  On  the  operations  of  the  American  Fur  Company  see  Hubbard,  Life,  passim. 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  279 

Each  autumn  for  a  number  of  years  this  fleet  made  its  way 
from  Mackinac  down  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  and 
around  its  southern  end  to  Chicago.  From  the  south  branch  of 
the  river  the  boats  and  goods  were  forced  at  the  expense  of  much 
toil  and  hardship  across  the  portage  and  down  the  Des  Plaines 
until  navigable  water  was  reached  on  the  Illinois  River.  Here 
the  brigade  broke  up,  small  parties  going  to  the  various  trading 
stations  of  the  Illinois  and  its  tributaries,  and  the  winter  was 
passed  in  bartering  the  goods  for  the  furs  of  the  Indians.  With 
the  opening  of  navigation  in  the  spring  the  outfit  reassembled 
and  the  return  journey  to  Mackinac  was  begun.  The  boats,  now 
laden  with  furs,  were  forced  up  the  Illinois  and  the  Des  Plaines, 
the  difficulty  on  the  latter  stream  arising  now  from  the  excess  of 
water,  rather  than  from  its  scarcity,  and  the  labor  of  stemming 
the  raging  current  of  the  swollen  stream.  The  remainder  of  the 
journey  from  Chicago,  around  the  lake  to  Mackinac,  was  made 
with  comparative  ease. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  recollections  of  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard 
for  an  intimate  picture  of  the  life  and  activities  of  the  traders 
who  composed  the  Illinois  brigade.  Hubbard  first  visited  the 
Illinois  country  as  a  youth  of  sixteen  in  the  autumn  of  1818. 
Approaching  Chicago,  the  brigade  spent  the  night  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Little  Calumet  River.  At  dawn  the  party  set  out,  in 
holiday  attire  and  with  flags  flying,  upon  the  last  twelve  miles 
of  the  lake  voyage.  At  Douglas  Grove  young  Hubbard  landed, 
and  climbing  a  tree  gazed  in  wonder  upon  the  first  prairie  he  had 
ever  beheld.  In  the  foreground  was  a  sea  of  waving  grass,  inter- 
mingled with  a  profusion  of  wild  flowers;  in  the  distance  the 
groves  of  timber  at  Blue  Island  and  along  the  Des  Plaines 
River.  A  herd  of  wild  deer  appeared  in  view,  while  a  pair  of 
red  foxes  emerged  from  the  grass  within  gunshot  of  the  enrap- 
tured youth.  To  the  northward  could  be  seen  the  whitewashed 
walls  of  Fort  Dearborn  sparkling  in  the  sunlight,  while  on  the 
blue  surface  of  the  lake  the  brawny  voyageurs  urged  onward 
the  fleet  of  bateaux,  their  flashing  oars  keeping  time  with  the 
music  of  the  boat  song. 


280  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Descending  from  his  observation  point,  Hubbard  made  his 
way  toward  the  fort,  and  found  the  traders  encamped  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river  to  the  west  of  Kinzie's  house.  Here  he 
was  entertained  and  a  firm  friendship  between  him  and  the 
Kinzie  family  soon  developed.  The  young  visitor  was  to  return 
to  Chicago  frequently  during  the  following  years,  until  in  1834 
he  made  it  his  permanent  home  and  shortly  became  one  of  the 
foremost  citizens  of  the  struggling  but  optimistic  young  city. 

Interesting  glimpses  of  the  manner  of  life  in  and  around  the 
new  Fort  Dearborn  are  afforded  by  the  accounts  of  travelers 
who  occasionally  visited  this  frontier  station.  The  reception  of 
Storrow  at  Fort  Dearborn  in  1817,  "as  one  arrived  from  the 
moon,"  has  already  been  mentioned.695  Storrow  was  greatly 
impressed  with  the  strategic  advantages  possessed  by  Chicago, 
which  he  thus  early  pointed  out  marked  it  as  the  future  place  of 
deposit  for  the  whole  region  of  the  upper  lakes.696  He  described 
the  climate  and  soil  as  excellent,  although  not  all  visitors  of  this 
early  period  agree  with  him  in  this  opinion.  At  the  time  of  his 
visit  traces  of  the  massacre  yet  remained,  and  Storrow  encoun- 
tered one  of  the  "principal  perpetrators,"  Nuscotnemeg,  or  the 
Mad  Sturgeon. 

From  the  pen  of  Mrs.  Baird,  whose  visit  to  Chicago  was 
probably  made  in  the  same  year  as  that  of  Storrow,  we  get  a  more 
detailed  description.697  The  vessel  which  transported  her  from 
Mackinac  had  for  its  cargo  "the  familiar  load  of  pork,  flour,  and 
butter."  There  were  no  ports  of  call  on  the  western  side  of  Lake 
Michigan,  and  the  master  after  seeking  in  vain  at  Chicago  for  a 
return  cargo  had  finally  to  take  on  a  ballast  of  sand  and  gravel. 
Mrs.  Baird  draws  a  pleasant  picture  of  the  household  of  her  host, 
John  Kinzie.  The  establishment  included  a  number  of  "men 
and  women  retainers."  There  was  as  yet  no  bridge  across  the 
river,  the  only  means  of  passage  being  a  canoe  or  dugout,  as  in 
the  days  before  the  massacre.  In  this  craft,  with  the  two  Kinzie 

«»s  Supra,  p.  153. 

«»<>  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  VI,  183-84. 

«»'  Ibid.,  XIV,  25  fi. 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  281 

children,  eight  and  ten  years  of  age,  acting  as  her  crew,  Mrs. 
Baird  first  crossed  the  Chicago  River. 

In  the  summer  of  1820  Governor  Cass  of  Michigan  Territory, 
returning  from  a  voyage  of  exploration  to  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  arrived  in  mid-August  at  Chicago  with  a 
party  of  sixteen  men  in  two  canoes.698  At  Chicago  the  party 
separated.  Cass  with  several  attendants  proceeded  on  horse- 
back along  the  Indian  trail  to  Detroit,  while  the  scientists  of 
the  expedition,  Captain  Douglas  and  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft, 
completed  the  circuit  of  Lake  Michigan  by  continuing  around 
its  eastern  shore  to  Mackinac.  Schoolcraft,  like  Storrow,  was 
greatly  impressed  with  the  natural  advantages  possessed  by 
Chicago,  and  predicted  for  it  a  glowing  future.  With  the  extin- 
guishment of  the  Indian  title  to  the  surrounding  country  immi- 
gration would  flow  in,  and  Chicago  would  become  the  depot 
for  the  inland  commerce  between  the  northern  and  southern 
sections  of  the  Union,  and  "a  great  thoroughfare  for  strangers, 
merchants,  and  travelers." 

No  little  discernment  was  requisite  thus  to  perceive  the 
future  destiny  of  the  rude  frontier  hamlet  which  according  to 
Schoolcraft's  estimate  contained,  exclusive  of  the  military,  but 
ten  or  a  dozen  houses  and  a  population  of  sixty  souls.  Quite 
different  from  Schoolcraft's  description  was  that  of  the  historian 
of  Major  Long's  expedition  to  the  sources  of  the  St.  Peter's 
River  three  years  later.6"  He  described  the  climate  as  inhos- 
pitable, the  soil  sterile,  and  the  scenery  monotonous  and  unin- 
viting. The  village  consisted  of  a  few  huts  of  log  or  bark,  low, 
filthy,  and  disgusting,  displaying  not  the  least  trace  of  comfort, 
and  inhabited  by  "a  miserable  race  of  men,"  scarcely  equal  to 
the  Indians  from  whom  they  were  descended.  Nor  could  the 
chronicler  perceive  the  brilliant  future  in  store  for  Chicago  which 
Schoolcraft  had  foretold.  He  granted  that  "at  some  distant 
day,"  when  the  country  between  the  Wabash  and  the  Mississippi 

'»'  For  an  account  of  the  expedition  see  Schoolcraft,  Narrative  Journal  of  Travels  from 
Detroit  .  ...  to  the  Sources  of  the  Mississippi  River  in  1820. 

<•"  Keating,  Expedition  to  the  Source  of  St.  Peter's  River,  I,  163-65. 


282  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

should  become  populated,  Chicago  might  become  a  point  in  the 
line  of  communication  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi; but  even  the  intercourse  which  would  be  carried  on 
through  this  channel  would,  he  thought,  be  at  all  times  a  limited 
one. 

From  September,  1821,  until  June,  1823,  the  commander  of 
Fort  Dearborn  was  Lieutenant-colonel  John  McNeil.700  Colonel 
McNeil  was  a  man  of  interesting  personality  in  many  ways. 
Physically  he  was  the  rival  of  General  Scott  for  being  the  tallest 
and  heaviest  man  in  the  army,  and  the  equal  in  size  of  "Long 
John"  Wentworth,  Chicago's  well-known  editor,  mayor,  and 
congressman.701  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  War  of  1812,  during  the 
course  of  which  he  was  twice  brevetted  for  gallant  conduct,  the 
first  time  in  the  battle  of  Chippewa  and  the  second  in  the  battle 
of  Niagara.702  Mrs.  McNeil  was  a  half-sister  of  Franklin  Pierce, 
later  President  of  the  United  States.  She  was  described  over 
half  a  century  later,  by  one  who  as  a  young  soldier  had  come 
under  her  influence,  as  a  "most  estimable  woman,"  whose 
kindness  and  wise  counsels  had  had  a  beneficial  influence  on  his 
whole  life.703  For  a  daughter  born  to  Mrs.  McNeil  at  Fort 
Dearborn  the  father  subsequently  claimed  the  distinction  of 
having  been  the  first  child  born  in  the  new  fort.704  Their  only 
son,  Lieutenant  J.  Winfield  Scott  McNeil,  who  died  in  1837  of 
wounds  received  in  a  battle  with  the  Seminole  Indians,705  was  a 
young  boy  during  the  time  his  father  was  stationed  at  Fort 
Dearborn. 

James  Watson  Webb,  who  later  acquired  national  renown  as 
editor,  politician,  and  diplomat,  was  stationed  at  Fort  Dearborn 
as  a  young  lieutenant  during  a  part  of  the  period  of  McNeil's 
incumbency  as  commander.  The  descendant  of  an  old  New 

*••  Drennan  Papers,  Fort  Dearborn  post  returns. 

">•  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  24-25.  In  1857  Wentworth  was  said  to  be  the  tallest 
man  in  Chicago,  measuring  about  six  feet  and  a  half  and  weighing  two  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds  (Chicago  Magazine,  I,  399). 

»••  Heitman,  Dictionary  of  the  United  States  Army,  I,  679. 

«» Van  Cleve,  Three  Score  Years  and  Ten,  31. 

»•«  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  24.  '•«  Ibid.,  Heitman,  op.  cit.,  I,  679. 


THE  NEW  FORT  DEARBORN  283 

York  family,  Webb  ran  away  from  home  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
and  going  to  Washington  secured  as  the  result  of  a  personal  inter- 
view with  Calhoun,  then  Secretary  of  War,  a  commission  in  the 
army.  In  October,  1821,  he  joined  the  Fort  Dearborn  garrison 
and  remained  here  until  the  following  June.  Webb's  service 
at  Fort  Dearborn  was  marked  by  a  bold  and  arduous  exploit. 
Toward  the  end  of  January,  1822,  John  Kinzie,  who  was  then 
acting  as  sub-Indian  agent,  communicated  to  Colonel  McNeil 
information  which  he  had  received  from  a  friendly  Chippewa 
chief  of  a  plot  on  the  part  of  the  Sioux  and  Fox  Indians  to  over- 
whelm the  garrison  at  Fort  Snelling  on  the  upper  Mississippi 
the  following  spring.706  It  was  desirable  to  send  word  to  Fort 
Armstrong  of  the  plot,  from  which  place  the  news  could  be 
forwarded  up  the  Mississippi  to  Fort  Snelling.  Lieutenant 
Webb,  though  barely  twenty  years  of  age,  volunteered  for  this 
service.  Accompanied  by  a  sergeant  and  a  Pottawatomie  guide, 
he  set  out  on  February  4,  intending  to  proceed  to  the  post  of  a 
French  trader  on  the  Rock  River  and  there  secure  a  Winnebago 
guide  for  the  remainder  of  the  trip.  Upon  reaching  there,  how- 
ever, he  found  the  Winnebagoes  celebrating  their  war  dance. 
To  secure  a  guide  from  them  was  out  of  the  question.  During 
the  night  Webb  and  his  companion  set  out,  ostensibly  to  return 
to  Chicago,  but  in  reality  to  make  their  way  across  the  prairie 
to  Fort  Armstrong.  The  weather  was  bitterly  cold  and  they 
were  exposed  to  the  double  danger  of  death  from  freezing  and  of 
being  intercepted  by  the  Indians.  Neither  materialized,  how- 
ever, and  in  due  time  Webb's  message  was  delivered  to  the 
commander  at  Fort  Armstrong. 

In  May,  1823,  an  order  was  issued  from  Washington  for  the 
evacuation  of  Fort  Dearborn,  and  the  following  autumn  the 
garrison  departed.707  Doctor  Alexander  Wolcott,  who  had 
succeeded  Jouett  as  Indian  agent  at  Chicago,  continued  to  serve 

rod  For  Webb's  account  of  the  affair  see  his  letter  to  John  Wentworth,  October  31, 
1882,  in  Chicago  Historical  Society  library,  and  Andrews,  Biographical  Sketch  of  James 
Watson  Webb,  11-15.  For  Kinzie's  report  of  the  plot  to  Cass,  February  i,  1822,  see  Indian 
Department,  Cass  correspondence. 

»•»  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  47;  Drennan  Papers,  Fort  Dearborn  post  returns. 


284  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

in  this  capacity  until  his  death  in  1830.  In  July,  1823,  he 
married  Ellen  Marion,  the  eldest  daughter  of  John  Kinzie's 
second  family,708  and  upon  the  removal  of  the  garrison  took  up 
his  residence  in  the  fort.  The  circumstances  of  Wolcott's 
marriage  well  illustrate  the  primitive  conditions  which  prevailed 
at  Chicago  in  this  period.  There  was  no  justice  of  the  peace, 
minister  of  the  gospel,  or  other  person  at  Chicago  authorized 
to  solemnize  marriages.  It  chanced  that  William  S.  Hamilton, 
son  of  the  famous  statesman,  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  had 
adopted  a  roving  life  in  the  wilderness  of  northern  Illinois,  had 
taken  a  contract  to  supply  the  garrison  at  Fort  Howard  with  beef 
cattle.  John  Hamlin,  one  of  the  early  residents  of  Peoria  who 
held  a  commission  as  justice  of  the  peace,  had  accompanied 
Hamilton  on  a  trip  to  Green  Bay  with  a  drove  of  cattle.  On 
the  return  journey  he  reached  Chicago  about  July  20,  and 
advantage  was  taken  of  his  presence  by  the  prospective  bride 
and  groom  to  have  their  marriage  ceremony  performed. 

With  the  garrison  departed  most  of  the  life  at  Chicago. 
During  the  next  few  years  little  occurred  to  interrupt  the  monoto- 
nous course  of  existence.  Rarely  a  new  settler,  attracted  by 
the  presence  of  relatives  who  had  gone  before,  or  lured  westward 
by  the  hope  of  improving  his  material  condition,  would  direct 
his  steps  to  Chicago.  Periodically  the  Indians,  who  still  held 
possession  of  the  country  tributary  to  Chicago,  would  assemble 
to  receive  their  annuities,  the  payment  of  which  had  been  stipu- 
lated in  various  treaties.  At  such  times  the  place  teemed  with 
savages  and  excitement  for  a  few  days,  during  which  the  traders 
reaped  a  golden  harvest.  Finally  in  1827  occurred  the  Winne- 
bago  War,  which  for  a  time  furnished  plenty  of  excitement  for 
Chicago,  and  led  eventually  to  the  reoccupation  of  Fort  Dearborn 
by  a  garrison  of  United  States  troops. 

;»'  McCulloch,  Early  Days  of  Peoria  and  Chicago,  gg. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  INDIAN  TRADE 

To  omit  from  the  history  of  early  Chicago  an  account  of  the 
Indian  trade  would  be  like  giving  the  play  of  Hamlet  with  the 
principal  character  left  out.  Its  origin  is  coeval  with  the  advent 
of  the  white  man  in  this  region;  and  until  almost  the  close  of  the 
period  covered  by  this  volume  it  constituted  the  basis  of  the  com- 
merce of  the  region  tributary  to  the  upper  Great  Lakes  and  the 
Mississippi  Basin.  With  the  advance  of  the  settler  into  the 
Northwest  the  wild  game  receded  before  him ;  and  its  disappear- 
ance marked  the  passing  of  the  Indian  trade,  soon  to  be  followed 
by  the  red  man  himself.  As  a  rule,  the  first  white  man  to  pene- 
trate the  wilderness  was  the  trader,  and  the  Indian's  conception 
of  the  white  race  was  based  upon  his  intercourse  with  the  traders, 
the  class  of  whites  with  whom  he  was  most  familiar.  Upon  these 
he  was  dependent  for  the  gun,  ammunition,  and  other  supplies 
which  quickly  became  essential  to  his  existence ;  and  most  of  the 
problems  which  grew  out  of  the  contact  of  the  two  races  centered 
around  the  conduct  of  the  Indian  trade. 

As  early  as  1675,  Marquette  found  French  traders  had 
entered  Illinois  and  established  themselves  below  Chicago,  in  the 
vicinity,  apparently,  of  the  junction  of  the  Des  Plaines  River 
with  the  Kankakee.709  Thus  early,  too,  certain  of  the  Indians 
themselves  had  turned  traders,  and  Marquette  was  attended,  on 
his  second  visit  to  Illinois,  by  a  party  of  Illinois  Indians  who 
were  returning  from  Canada  with  merchandise  to  trade  with  the 
members  of  their  own  race  for  furs.710  One  of  the  party,  named 
Chachagwessiou,  was  "greatly  esteemed"  among  his  nation 
because,  in  part  at  least,  he  was  engaged  in  the  fur  trade;  and 
this,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  and  his  associates  subjected  their 
kinsmen  to  the  same  extortion  as  did  the  white  traders.  That  it 

">» Jesuit  Relations,  LIX,  175  ff.  "»  Ibid.,  LIX,  165,  167,  175  el  passim. 

285 


286  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

was  primarily  for  the  sake  of  the  fur  trade  that  the  French  valued 
the  country  is  a  fact  easily  demonstrable.  The  economic 
foundation  of  La  Salle's  colony  was  the  Indian  trade  which  he 
expected  to  develop.  For  its  exclusive  possession  he  sought  and 
obtained  the  royal  license,  and  against  interlopers  upon  his 
privileged  monopoly  he  waged  relentless  warfare.  With  his 
death  the  license  to  carry  on  trade  at  Fort  St.  Louis  passed  to 
his  faithful  lieutenant,  Tonty.  For  many  years  from  his  lofty 
stronghold  he  continued  to  trade  with  the  Indians  of  the  sur- 
rounding region.  But  the  French  government  looked  upon  the 
enterprise  with  a  jealous  eye,  and  early  in  the  eighteenth  century 
at  its  request  Tonty's  establishment  at  the  rock  of  St.  Louis  was 
abandoned  and  he  himself  departed  for  lower  Louisiana,  where  he 
shortly  met  his  death. 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was, 
as  far  as  known,  no  civilized  establishment  at  Chicago.  That 
traders  may  have  established  themselves  here  for  a  shorter  or 
longer  time  is  entirely  possible,  but  there  was  no  regular  French 
post  here  as  has  often  been  stated.  Until  the  end  of  the  French 
regime  the  trade  of  the  territory  around  Chicago  found  outlet  at 
the  neighboring  posts.  The  nearest  of  these  was  St.  Joseph,  but 
there  were  others  at  Mackinac,  Green  Bay,  Ouiatanon,  and  in 
the  French  settlements  of  lower  Illinois.7" 

The  first  trading  establishment  at  Chicago  of  which  we  have 
any  certain  knowledge  was  that  of  Baptiste  Point  du  Sable  in  the 
latter  years  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Hugh  Reward,  who  in 
1790  passed  from  Lake  Michigan  by  way  of  the  Chicago  Portage 
to  the  Illinois,  tarried  at  Chicago  a  day  to  prepare  for  the 
further  journey.  He  exchanged  his  canoe  for  a  pirogue  belonging 
to  Du  Sable,  and  bought  from  him  a  quantity  of  flour  and  pork, 
for  which  he  gave  in  exchange  thirteen  yards  of  cotton  cloth.712 
How  long  Du  Sable  continued  to  reside  here  or  how  extensive  was 
his  trade  is  somewhat  conjectural.  It  is  evident  that  during  the 

»"  For  the  posts  of  the  interior  and  their  trade,  toward  the  close  of  the  French  regime, 
see  Bougainville's  memoir  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XVIII,  167  ff. 

'"  Heward,  Journal. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  287 

closing  years  of  the  century  the  St.  Joseph  traders,  Burnett  and 
Kinzie,  at  times  extended  their  trading  operations  around  the  lake 
as  far  as  Chicago.  It  is  evident,  too,  from  the  fact  that  when  the 
garrison  came  in  1803  there  were  four  traders'  huts  here,  that  still 
other  traders  had  established  themselves  at  Chicago  for  a  shorter 
or  longer  period.713 

So  far  as  existing  records  are  concerned,  the  first  quarter  of 
the  nineteenth  century  marks  the  heyday  of  the  Indian  trade 
at  Chicago.  The  establishment  of  the  garrison  here  not  only 
attracted  traders  and  others,  as  in  the  case  of  Kinzie,  but  it  also 
resulted  in  the  handing  down  of  more  numerous  and  extensive 
accounts  of  the  trading  activities  of  this  region  than  had  ever 
been  done  before.  Perhaps  the  most  important  private  source  of 
information  for  the  period  prior  to  1812  is  the  transcript  of  names 
in  Kinzie's  account  books.714  Far  overshadowing  this  in  impor- 
tance for  the  whole  period  from  1805  to  1822,  however,  are  the 
records  of  the  Department  of  Indian  Trade,  which  maintained  a 
government  factory  at  Chicago. 

The  trading  operations  of  Kinzie  during  the  first  period  of  his 
residence  at  Chicago  were  evidently  of  considerable  importance. 
An  entry  at  St.  Joseph  in  April,  1804,  less  than  a  month  before 
the  removal  to  Chicago,  shows  that  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and 
forty-five  pounds  was  invested  in  a  single  "  adventure  "  at  Peoria. 
That  similar  enterprises  were  being  simultaneously  conducted 
appears  from  an  entry  a  week  later  concerning  "Billy  Caldwell's 
adventure."  At  Chicago,  in  addition  to  the  trade  he  himself 
conducted  and  the  "  ad  ventures"  he  financed,  Kinzie  was  in 
partnership  with  his  half-brother,  Thomas  Forsyth,  during  the 
entire  period  prior  to  1812.  Although  the  articles  of  indenture 
of  Jeffrey  Nash  describe  Kinzie  and  Forsyth  as  "Merchants  of 
Chicago,"715  Forsyth  was  stationed  at  Peoria  until  his  establish- 
ment was  broken  up  by  Captain  Craig's  militia  in  the  late 
autumn  of  1812.  In  Kinzie's  account  book  under  date  of  June  13, 

"» See  in  this  connection  the  letters  of  William  Burnett,  the  St.  Joseph  trader,  in 
Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  49-70,  passim. 

"« Barry  Transcript.  "« Supra,  p.  150-52. 


288  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

1806,  settlements  with  four  individuals,  amounting  in  all  to 
fourteen  hundred  and  thirty-one  pounds,  are  noted.  The  names 
of  these  men,  Sigrain,  Bourbonnais,  LaVoy,  and  Maisonneuf, 
furnish  a  typical  illustration  of  the  nationality  of  the  men  who 
conducted  the  Illinois  fur  trade  in  the  first  decade  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. 

Some  individual  entries  taken  at  random  from  Kinzie's  ac- 
count books  may  be  of  interest  as  showing  the  prices  that  pre- 
vailed at  Chicago  a  century  ago.  Thirty  bushels  of  corn  sold  in 
1805  for  forty-five  dollars.  The  same  year,  however,  two  bushels 
were  sold  by  Kinzie  to  Ramsey  Crooks  for  five  dollars.  Another 
entry  for  1806  states  that  tobacco  sold  at  fifty  cents  a  pound; 
whisky  at  fifty  cents  a  quart;  powder  at  $1.50  a  pound;  and 
shot  at  thirty- three  cents  a  pound.  In  May  of  this  year  butter 
was  quoted  at  fifty  cents,  the  same  price  which  Kinzie  paid  at 
Detroit  ten  years  later  for  a  shipment  of  ten  pounds  sent  on  his 
first  Chicago  adventure  after  the  return  of  the  garrison  to  Fort 
Dearborn.  This  same  "adventure"  included  two  barrels  of 
whisky  invoiced  at  ten  shillings  or  $1.25  a  gallon.  A  compari- 
son of  this  with  the  selling  price  already  noted  of  fifty  cents  a 
quart  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  profit  from  the  sale  of  fire- 
water proceeded  mainly  from  the  dilution  of  it  with  water,  which 
the  traders  customarily  practiced.  Returning  to  1806,  flour  is 
priced  at  ten  cents  a  pound,  while  the  pay  of  six  boatmen,  hired 
to  assist  in  pulling  a  trader's  craft  up  the  river,  is  fifty  cents  a  day. 
In  1810  raisins  sold  for  four  shillings  and  tea  for  twenty  shillings 
a  pound;  while  the  price  of  "  i  tyson"  which  Jouett  ordered  was 
thirty  shillings.  "A  silver  brooch  for  six  rats,"  "2  large  silver 
crosses,  $7.50,"  and  "Francis  Bourbonnae  Dr.  to  i  negro  wench 
sold  him  by  Indenture  £160"  are  entries  which  suggest  their 
own  explanation. 

It  seems  evident  that  the  fur  trade  of  Illinois  in  the  period 
under  consideration  was  of  considerable  magnitude.  "I  had  no 
idea  of  there  being  so  extensive  a  trade  carried  on  in  that  quar- 
ter," wrote  Colonel  Kingsbury  to  Captain  Whistler  in  the  fall  of 
1804,  in  reply  to  an  inventory  which  the  latter  had  sent  him  of 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  289 

peltries  passing  Fort  Dearborn  the  preceding  spring.716  The 
operations  of  Kinzie  and  Forsyth  could  have  constituted  but  a 
small  part  of  the  fur  trade  of  Illinois  at  this  period.  In  the  spring 
of  1805  Kingsbury  was  himself  at  Chicago,  seeking  to  conduct  a 
company  of  soldiers  down  the  Illinois  River  to  establish  a  new 
fort  near  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.717  Whistler  had  been 
ordered  to  secure  suitable  boats  for  the  transportation  of  the 
detachment,  but  his  efforts  to  do  so  had  been  unavailing.  Upon 
Kingsbury's  arrival  at  Chicago,  however,  he  succeeded  in  secur- 
ing two  traders'  bateaux  on  condition  that  the  goods,  amounting 
to  one  hundred  packs  of  peltry  and  ten  bags,  should  be  trans- 
ported to  Mackinac  in  the  brig  "Adams,"  which  had  brought  the 
troops  to  Chicago.  A  few  entries  from  Kinzie's  account  book 
will  serve  further  to  show  the  extent  of  the  trade  which  passed 
through  Chicago.  June  14,  1806,  Ouilmette  is  charged  with  the 
hire  of  a  wagon  and  oxen  to  transport  a  trader's  goods  to  the 
forks  of  the  Illinois  River.  Three  weeks  later  Hugh  Pattinson 
and  Company  become  indebted  to  Kinzie  for  the  labor  of  four  men 
for  six  days  each  pulling  boats  up  the  river,  and  at  the  same  time 
for  the  portage  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  packs  of  peltries.  In 
July,  1807,  Kinzie  transported  forty-six  packs  across  the  portage 
for  James  Aird,  and  in  the  same  month  on  two  occasions  trans- 
ported enough  for  Auguste  Chouteau  to  incur  charges  of  almost 
forty  pounds.  A  similar  entry  in  July,  1808,  charges  Chouteau 
with  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  dollars  for  carrying  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  packs  from  Mount  Joliet  to  Chicago. 

The  government  factory  or  trading  house  constituted  a  not- 
able feature  of  the  Indian  trade  at  Chicago  after  1805.  The 
policy  of  the  government  toward  the  red  man  which  found 
expression  in  the  factory  system  was  fraught  with  such  signifi- 
cance, not  only  for  the  Indian  trade,  but  also  for  the  larger  subject 
of  the  relations  between  the  two  races,  that  it  seems  desirable  at 

»»« Kingsbury  Papers,  Whistler  to  Kingsbury,  August  14,  1804;  Kingsbury  to  Whistler, 
September  10,  1804. 

'"  For  this  expedition  see  ibid.,  Gushing  to  Kingsbury,  February  20,  1805;  Kingsbury 
to  Smith,  June  2,  1805;  Smith  to  Kingsbury,  June  i,  1805;  Kingsbury  to  Brevoort,  June  2, 
1805;  Kingsbury  to  Williamson,  July  10,  1805,  et  passim. 


290  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

this  point  to  present  a  somewhat  comprehensive  account  of  it. 
The  origin  of  the  policy  of  government  trading  houses  dates  from 
the  early  colonial  period.  In  the  Plymouth  and  Jamestown 
settlements  all  industry  was  at  first  controlled  by  the  common- 
wealth, and  in  Massachusetts -Bay  the  stock  company  had  re- 
served to  itself  the  trade  in  furs  before  leaving  England.718  In 
the  last-named  colony  a  notable  experiment  was  carried  on  during 
the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  in  conducting  "truck 
houses"  for  the  Indians.  About  the  close  of  this  period 
Benjamin  Franklin,  whose  attention  had  been  called  to  the  abuses 
which  the  Indians  of  the  Pennsylvania  frontier  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  the  private  traders,  investigated  the  workings  of  the 
Massachusetts  system  and  recommended  the  establishment  of 
public  trading  houses  at  suitable  places  along  the  frontier.719 

The  first  step  toward  a  national  system  of  Indian  trading 
establishments  was  taken  during  the  opening  throes  of  the 
Revolution.  The  establishment  of  friendly  relations  with  the 
Indians  appeared  to  the  second  Continental  Congress  a  matter  of 
the  "utmost  moment."720  Accordingly  it  was  resolved,  July  12, 
1775,  to  establish  three  Indian  departments,  a  northern,  a  middle, 
and  a  southern,  with  appropriate  powers  for  supervising  the  rela- 
tions of  the  United  Colonies  with  the  Indians.  In  November  of 
the  same  year  a  committee,  of  which  Franklin  was  a  member,  was 
directed  to  devise  a  plan  for  carrying  on  trade  with  the  Indians, 
and  ways  and  mean  for  procuring  the  goods  proper  for  it.721 

Acting  upon  the  report  of  this  committee,  in  January,  1776, 
the  Congress  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  outlining  a  general 
system  of  governmental  supervision  of  the  Indian  trade,  and 
appropriating  the  sum  of  forty  thousand  pounds  to  purchase 
goods  for  it.722  These  were  to  be  disposed  of  by  licensed  traders, 
acting  under  instructions  laid  down  by  the  commissioners,  and 

"•  Turner,  Indian  Trade  in  Wisconsin,  58. 

"» Franklin,  Works,  II,  221.  The  letter  is  not  certainly  by  Franklin,  but  he  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  its  author.  See  ibid.,  217,  footnote. 

'••  Journals  of  the  Continental  Congress,  II,  174. 

'» Ibid.,  Ill,  350,  365,  366.  7«  ibid.,  IV,  go-o8. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  291 

under  bond  to  them  to  insure  compliance  with  the  prescribed 
regulations.  The  following  month  Congress  further  manifested 
its  good  intentions  toward  the  native  race  by  passing  resolutions 
expressing  its  faith  in  the  benefits  to  accrue  from  the  propagation 
of  the  gospel  and  the  civil  arts  among  the  red  men,  and  directing 
the  commissioners  of  Indian  affairs  to  report  suitable  places  in 
their  departments  for  establishing  schoolmasters  and  ministers  of 
the  gospel.723  Owing  to  the  exigencies  of  the  war,  however,  these 
plans  for  the  establishment  of  a  trading  system  and  for  the 
civilization  of  the  Indians  were  alike  frustrated.  The  struggle 
with  the  mother  country  absorbed  all  the  energies  and  resources 
of  the  Revolutionary  government.  How  this  affected  the  prose- 
cution of  the  plans  for  the  Indian  Departments,  which  had  been 
entered  upon  so  hopefully  in  the  beginning  of  the  war,  is  suffi- 
ciently shown  by  the  fact  that  the  expenses  of  the  government 
in  behalf  of  the  Indians  fell  from  two  hundred  and  sixty-one 
thousand  dollars  in  1776  to  thirty-five  hundred  dollars  in  1779; 
and  the  total  amount  for  the  five  years  from  1779  to  1783  inclu- 
sive was  less  than  one- tenth  the  sum  spent  in  the  single  year 
I776.724 

During  the  period  of  the  Confederation  the  subject  of  the 
Indian  trade  was  frequently  acted  upon  by  Congress,  but  no 
systematic  effort  was  made  to  regulate  it  until  1786.  In  that 
year  an  ordinance  was  passed  dividing  the  Indian  Department 
into  two  districts  and  appointing  a  superintendent  and  a  deputy 
for  each.725  They  were  to  execute  the  regulations  of  Congress 
relating  to  Indian  affairs,  and  to  grant  licenses  to  trade  with  the 
Indians.  Only  citizens  of  the  United  States  whose  good  moral 
character  had  been  certified  to  by  the  governor  of  a  state  were 
eligible  to  licenses;  they  were  to  run  for  one  year  and  to  be 
granted  upon  the  payment  of  fifty  dollars  and  the  execution  of  a 

i»Ibid.,  IV,  in. 

"« American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  II,  210.  The  sum  spent  in  1776  was 
$261,783.44;  for  the  five  years  from  1779  to  1783  inclusive  it  was  $25,641.34. 

'«  For  a  sketch  of  the  relations  of  the  government  with  the  Indians  see  the  report  of 
Calhoun,  Secretary  of  War,  to  Congress  in  1816  (American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  II, 
181  ff.);  for  the  act  of  1786  see  ibid.,  I,  14. 


292  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

bond  to  insure  compliance  with  the  established  regulations.  To 
engage  in  trade  without  a  license  incurred  a  penalty  of  five 
hundred  dollars  and  forfeiture  of  goods. 

This  was,  apparently,  a  judicious  system,  but  the  government 
of  the  Confederation  had  about  run  its  course,  and  the  general 
paralysis  which  overtook  it,  and  the  confusion  incident  to  the 
change  to  a  new  form  of  government,  prevented  the  new  policy 
toward  the  Indians  from  being  carried  into  effect.  Prominent 
among  the  problems  which  the  new  national  government  found 
pressing  upon  it  for  solution  was  the  subject  of  Indian  relations 
and,  in  this  connection,  the  question  of  the  regulation  of  the 
Indian  trade.  In  1790  the  licensing  system  of  1786  was  tempo- 
rarily adopted,  but  shorn  of  some  of  its  valuable  features.  There 
was  no  prohibition  against  foreigners  and  no  fee  was  required  for 
a  license.  This  system  was  continued  without  essential  change 
until  1816,  when  an  act  was  passed  prohibiting  foreigners  from 
trading  with  Indians  of  the  United  States,  except  by  special  per- 
mission of  the  President  and  under  such  regulations  as  he  should 
prescribe. 

The  young  government  shortly  entered  upon  the  most  serious 
Indian  war  in  all  its  history,  and  not  until  one  of  its  armies  had 
been  repulsed  and  another  destroyed  did  Anthony  Wayne  suc- 
ceed, in  1795,  in  bringing  the  hostile  red  men  to  recognize  the 
superior  might  of  the  nation  he  represented.  At  the  close  of  this 
war  Congress,  at  the  instigation  of  Washington,  determined  to 
experiment  with  another  system  of  conducting  the  Indian  trade. 
In  the  session  of  1795,  stirred  up  by  the  repeated  recommenda- 
tions of  Washington,  that  body  debated  a  bill  for  the  establish- 
ment of  Indian  trading  houses.726  Though  the  bill  was  defeated 
at  this  time  its  purpose  as  stated  by  its  supporters  is  worth 
noting.  It  was  regarded  as  constituting  a  part  only  of  a  com- 
prehensive frontier  policy;  this  policy  embraced  the  threefold 
design  of  the  military  protection  of  the  frontier  against  Indian 
invasions,  the  legal  protection  of  the  Indian  country  against 
predatory  white  incursions,  and  the  establishment  of  trading 

"•  Annals  of  Congress,  3d  Congress,  1262-63. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  293 

houses  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  Indians  and  free  them  from 
foreign  influence.  It  was  believed  that  these  three  things  em- 
braced in  one  system  would  bring  about  the  great  desideratum, 
peace  on  the  frontier;  but  that  without  the  last  the  other  parts 
of  the  plan  would  prove  totally  ineffectual. 

The  defeat  of  the  advocates  of  the  system  of  government 
trading  houses  in  1795  was  neither  final  nor  complete.  Their 
principal  measure  had  failed  of  passage,  but  at  this  same  session 
Congress  appropriated  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  begin 
the  establishment  of  public  trading  houses,727  and  two  were 
accordingly  started  among  the  Cherokees,  Creeks,  and  Chicka- 
saws  of  the  Southwest.  The  next  year  a  second  act  was  passed, 
carrying  an  appropriation  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  in  addition  to  an  annual  allowance  for  the  payment  of 
agents  and  clerks.728  The  President  was  authorized  to  establish 
trading  houses  at  such  places  as  he  saw  fit  for  carrying  on  a 
"liberal  trade"  with  the  Indians.  The  agents  and  clerks 
employed  were  prohibited  from  engaging  in  trade  on  their  own 
account,  and  were  required  to  give  bonds  for  the  faithful  per- 
formance of  their  duties.  The  act  was  to  run  for  two  years,  and 
the  trade  was  to  be  so  conducted  that  the  capital  sum  should 
suffer  no  diminution. 

Notwithstanding  the  appropriation  and  act  of  1796,  for 
several  years  no  extension  of  the  system  of  trading  houses  beyond 
the  two  experimental  establishments  of  1795  was  attempted;  nor 
did  the  government  avail  itself,  to  any  considerable  extent,  of  the 
money  appropriated  for  this  purpose.  The  total  amount  appro- 
priated in  1795  and  1796  was  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  In 
December,  1801,  the  Secretary  of  War  reported  that  only  ninety 
thousand  dollars  of  this  amount  had  been  drawn  upon,  and  that 
the  number  of  trading  houses  was  still  limited  to  the  two 
that  had  been  first  established.729  Even  the  act  authorizing 

"'  Ibid.,  4th  Congress,  ist  session,  152;  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  583. 
"•  Annals  of  Congress,  4th  Congress,  ist  session,  282-85;   for  the  act  itself,  see  ibid., 
4th  Congress,  zd  session,  2889-90. 

"«  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  653-55. 


294  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

the  system  had  expired  in  1799,  and  in  spite  of  repeated 
recommendations  to  Congress  in  the  matter  no  action  had 
been  taken  to  renew  it. 

In  the  debates  over  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  1796  it  was  made 
evident  that  even  the  supporters  of  the  measure  regarded  it  in  the 
light  of  an  experiment.730  The  recent  war  had  cost  one  and  a 
half  million  dollars  annually;  it  was  worth  while  to  try  another 
method  of  securing  peace  on  the  frontier.  Since  the  Canadian 
trading  company  was  too  powerful  for  individual  Americans  to 
compete  successfully  with  it  the  government  must  assume  the 
task.  If  upon  trial  the  plan  should  prove  a  failure,  it  could 
be  abandoned.  On  the  other  hand  it  was  objected  that  public 
bodies  should  not  engage  in  trade,  which  was  always  managed 
better  by  individuals;  fraud  and  loss  could  not  be  guarded 
against;  nor  should  the  people  be  taxed  for  the  sake  of  main- 
taining trade  with  the  Indians.  In  spite  of  these  objections  and 
prophecies,  the  report  of  1801  showed  that  the  original  capital  had 
suffered  no  diminution,  but  had,  in  fact,  been  slightly  increased; 
this,  too,  despite  losses  that  had  been  incurred  through  the  fail- 
ure of  the  sales  agent,  to  whom  the  peltries  had  been  assigned,  to 
dispose  of  them  before  many  had  become  ruined. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the  degree  of  success  achieved  in  the 
broad  objects  for  the  attainment  of  which  the  system  had  been 
inaugurated.  Concerning  this  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War 
in  1801  was  entirely  favorable.731  As  far  as  it  had  been  estab- 
lished the  effects  of  the  system  upon  the  disposition  of  the  Indians 
had  been  very  salutary.  The  several  tribes  were  desirous  of 
participating  in  its  advantages,  and  no  doubt  was  felt  that  its 
extension  would  be  attended  by  all  the  good  effects  originally 
contemplated  by  the  government,  and  this  without  any  diminu- 
tion of  the  original  fund. 

Two  years  later,  in  January,  1803,  Jefferson  stated  in  a 
message  to  Congress  that  private  traders,  both  foreign  and 
domestic,  were  being  undersold  and  driven  from  competition, 

"•Annals  of  Congress,  4th  Congress,  ist  session,  220-32. 
"l  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  653-55. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  295 

that  the  system  was  effective  in  conciliating  the  good  will  of  the 
Indians,  and  that  they  were  soliciting  generally  the  establish- 
ment of  trading  houses  among  them.732  At  the  same  time  the 
Secretary  of  War  reported  the  establishment  of  four  new  sta- 
tions, at  Detroit,  Fort  Wayne,  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  and  among  the 
Choctaws,  to  which  the  remainder  of  the  money  appropriated  in 
1796  had  been  applied.733  This  remained  the  number  until  1805, 
when  four  more  were  established :  at  Arkansas  on  the  Arkansas 
River,  at  Nachitoches  on  the  Red  River,  at  Belle  Fontaine  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and  at  Chicago.734  The  following 
year  a  trading  house  was  established  at  Sandusky  on  Lake  Erie, 
and  in  1808  three  more,  at  Mackinac,  at  Fort  Osage,  and  at 
Fort  Madison.735  Meanwhile  the  two  original  houses  had  been 
removed  to  new  locations  and  two  others,  those  at  Detroit  and 
at  Belle  Fontaine,  had  been  abandoned. 

From  1808  until  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1812  there  were 
thus  twelve  factories  in  operation.  At  each  was  stationed  an 
agent,  or  factor,  and  at  most  an  assistant,  or  clerk,  as  well.  The 
salaries  of  the  former  prior  to  1810  ranged  from  $750  to  $1,250, 
in  most  cases  not  exceeding  $1,000;  the  pay  of  the  latter  from 
$250  to  $650;  in  both  cases  subsistence  was  granted  in  addition.736 
In  1810  the  superintendent  of  the  trade  estimated  that  of  the 
total  amount  of  $280,000,  which  had  been  invested  in  the 
business,  $235,000  still  remained;  the  loss  in  the  capital  in- 
vested to  this  date  was  therefore,  in  round  numbers,  $45,ooo.737 
The  four-year  period  ending  in  1815,  on  the  other  hand,  in 
spite  of  the  disturbance  to  trade  which  attended  the  operations 
of  the  War  of  1812,  produced  a  profit  of  almost  $60,000. 738 
Approximately  three-fourths  of  this  gain  was  swallowed  up  in 
the  destruction,  during  the  war,  of  the  factories  at  Chicago, 
Fort  Wayne,  Sandusky,  Mackinac,  and  Fort  Madison;  but 

"•  Ibid.,  I,  684.  '» Ibid.,  I,  683. 

«<Report  of  John  Mason,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Trade,  April  12,  1810,  ibid.,  I, 
768  fi. 

'«  Ibid.  "•  Ibid.  "» Ibid. 

"•  Report  of  Crawford,  Secretary  of  War,  March  13,  1816,  ibid.,  II,  26-28. 


296  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

this  was  the  fortune  of  war  and  not  in  any  way  the  fault  of 
the  system. 

The  establishment  of  a  factory  at  Chicago  was  determined 
upon  in  the  spring  of  1805,  and  on  March  19  Ebenezer  Belknap 
of  Connecticut  was  commissioned  as  factor.739  The  factory  at 
Detroit  was  to  be  abandoned  and  the  goods  and  furniture  for  the 
factor's  dwelling  to  be  removed  to  Chicago.740  To  supplement 
the  stock  of  goods  for  the  Indian  trade  removed  from  Detroit  an 
initial  invoice  of  new  goods  to  the  value  of  eight  thousand  dollars 
was  ordered  to  be  sent  to  Detroit  for  the  Chicago  factory.741 
Belknap's  instructions  shed  much  light  upon  the  practice  followed 
when  a  new  factory  was  to  be  established.  He  was  to  receive  a 
salary  of  $1,000  a  year  and  in  addition  to  this  $365  in  lieu  of  sub- 
sistence.742 He  was  empowered  to  employ,  if  necessary,  a 
''principal  clerk"  at  a  salary  not  to  exceed  $500;  if  a  young  man 
could  be  procured  for  the  place  at  a  salary  of  $200  or  $30x3,  this 
was  to  be  done.  When  a  new  factory  was  established  an  allow- 
ance to  the  factor  of  $200  for  household  furniture  and  domestic 
utensils  and  $25  yearly  for  the  same  purpose  after  the  first  year 
was  made.  Since  Belknap  was  to  take  over  the  outfit  of  the 
Detroit  factory  his  initial  allowance  for  this  purpose  was  reduced 
to  $100. 

The  establishment  of  the  Chicago  factory  was  not  unattended 
with  difficulties.  Munroe,  the  Detroit  factor,  was  indisposed  to 
surrender  the  public  property  in  his  possession,  and  much  em- 
barrassment was  experienced  on  this  account.743  Scarcely  had 
Belknap  had  time  to  proceed  to  his  destination  when  warning 

"» Belknap's  commission,  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  B,  69.  In  some  cases  two  or 
more  of  these  letter  books  are  designated  in  the  same  way.  In  such  cases  the  volume  in 
question  can  be  determined  by  taking  account  of  the  dates  of  the  contents. 

if  Ibid.,  72,  War  Department  (unsigned)  to  Belknap,  April  12,  1805;  ibid.,  438, 
DearboVn  to  John  Johnston,  June  3,  1805. 

w  Ibid.,  68,  John  Smith  to  William  Davy,  April  12,  1805. 

'«•  Belknap's  commission,  ibid.,  69;  his  instructions,  April  12,  1805,  ibid.,  72. 

'«  Various  letters  in  the  Indian  Office  letter  books  refer  to  this  difficulty,  particularly 
one  from  the  War  Department  (unsigned)  to  William  Davy,  Superintendent  of  Indian 
Trade,  May  17,  1805  (Letter  Book  B,  76).  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  how  the  trouble 
was  finally  settled. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  297 

came  to  the  War  Department  that  his  character  was  not  what  it 
should  be.744  Our  information  concerning  the  difficulty  is  but 
scanty,  but  the  outlines  of  the  situation  are  clear.  An  investiga- 
tion into  the  fitness  of  Belknap  for  the  position  was  instituted,745 
and  as  a  precautionary  measure  it  was  decided  to  appoint  a 
"suitable  character"  as  his  assistant,  with  instructions  to  report 
faithfully  to  the  War  Department  concerning  the  character  and 
conduct  of  his  superior.746  Apparently  the  investigation  con- 
firmed the  charges  against  Belknap,  for  before  the  end  of  Novem- 
ber the  choice  of  a  successor  to  him  was  being  considered,747  and 
on  December  31,  1805,  the  luckless  factor's  services  at  Chicago 
terminated.748  He  was  superseded  by  Thomas  Hayward,  who 
had  been  acting  as  his  assistant  since  the  third  of  the  preceding 
October.  Belknap  proceeded  to  Washington,  and  in  a  prelimi- 
nary interview  with  his  superiors  gave  such  an  account  of  himself 
as  to  imbue  them  with  the  belief  that  partisan  rancor  had  been 
responsible  for  the  charges  preferred  against  him.749  With  this 
our  information  concerning  the  matter  abruptly  terminates,  and 
we  can  only  hope  that  the  fuller  investigation  established  his 
innocence  of  the  charge  against  him. 

Thomas  Hayward  continued  in  charge  of  the  Chicago  factory 
until  the  spring  of  1807,  when  he  resigned  his  appointment.  No 
successor  could  be  found  at  once,  and  accordingly  Jouett,  the 
Indian  agent,  was  asked  to  take  temporary  charge  of  the  fac- 
tory.750 A  few  weeks  later  the  President  of  the  United  States 
<v  approbated"  the  appointment  of  Joseph  B.  Varnum,  a  clerk  in 
the  War  Department,  to  the  vacant  position.751  Varnum  came 

'«« Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  B,  104,  War  Department  to  William  Davy,  August 
31,  1805- 

»« Ibid.,  104,  War  Department  to  Davy,  August  31,  1805;  ibid.,  136,  War  Department 
*o  Davy,  November  22,  1805. 

M*  Ibid.,  104,  War  Department  to  Davy,  September  26,  1805. 

»«'  Ibid.,  136,  War  Department  to  Davy,  November  22,  1805. 

'«•  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  A,  94,  John  Mason  to  Davy,  March  10,  1808. 

'«» Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  B,  218,  War  Department  to  Davy,  May  12,  1806. 

«» Ibid.,  304,  War  Department  to  General  John  Shee,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Trade, 
May  12,  1807;  ibid.,  314,  War  Department  to  Jouett,  May  19,  1807. 

»'  Ibid.,  318,  War  Department  to  Shee,  June  6,  1807. 


298  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

highly  recommended  by  his  superiors,  and  his  services  as  factoi 
gave  equal  satisfaction  to  his  new  employer.  "No  young  man 
possesses]  more  purity  of  morals  or  integrity  of  Character," 
wrote  his  superior  at  the  time  he  was  appointed  to  his  new  posi- 
tion, and  he  further  expressed  the  conviction  that  Varnum  would 
perform  his  new  duties  with  "perfect  fidelity."752 

Varnum  took  up  his  new  work  at  Chicago  the  last  of  August. 
The  invoice  of  the  household  furniture  belonging  to  the  factory 
made  on  this  date  by  Jouett  and  Kinzie  is  still  preserved.753 
His  predecessors  had  not  made  use  of  the  full  $200  allowed  for 
this  purpose,  apparently,  for  the  invoice  shows  the  total  original 
cost  of  the  equipment  to  have  been  $142.87.  The  appraisers 
estimated  the  present  value  of  the  articles  at  about  80  per  cent  of 
the  original  cost.  The  meager  equipment  included  six  chairs,  one 
table,  and  one  camp  and  two  cot  bedsteads;  the  most  prominent 
items  among  the  kitchen  utensils  being  two  brass  and  four  tin 
kettles,  valued  at  fifteen  dollars. 

In  1808  it  was  decided  to  establish  a  factory  at  Mackinac. 
Under  the  impression  that  Varnum  preferred  this  station  to  the 
one  at  Chicago  the  appointment  was  made,  and  Matthew  Irwin 
of  Philadelphia  was  designated  to  succeed  Varnum  at  Chicago.754 
Varnum,  too  late,  protested  against  his  transfer,  preferring  to 
remain  at  Chicago,  but  the  appointment  of  Irwin  had  already 
been  made,  and  it  was  decided  that  the  arrangement  could  not  be 
altered.  Irwin's  salary  and  subsistence  was  fixed  at  $1,165,  $200 
less  than  his  predecessor  had  been  given.755  He  was  expected  to 
proceed  to  Chicago  at  once,  and  to  arrive  there  in  time  to  permit 
Varnum  to  open  the  factory  at  Mackinac  the  same  season.  This 
plan  miscarried,  however.  Irwin  in  charge  of  a  consignment  of 
goods  went  as  far  as  Albany;  here  the  goods  were  stored  and  the 
factor  returned  to  Philadelphia  to  pass  the  winter.  In  the  spring 

"J  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  B.  The  letter  is  unsigned  but  probably  was  written 
by  Dearborn. 

'"  Department  of  Indian  Trade,  Chicago  invoice  book. 

«« Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  A,  196,  John  Mason  to  Matthew  Irwin,  August  8,  1808; 
Letter  Book  B,  436,  War  Department  to  Irwin,  May  6,  1809. 

in  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  A,  196,  Mason  to  Irwin,  August  8,  1808. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  299 

of  1809  he  again  started  for  Chicago.756  His  tenure  as  factor 
lasted  three  years.  The  outbreak  of  war  in  1812  terminated  the 
usefulness  of  the  factory  for  the  time  being,  and  Irwin  proceeded 
to  wind  up  its  affairs.  The  stock  of  furs  on  hand  was  sent  by 
vessel  to  Mackinac,  only  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  British. 
On  July  5  Irwin  left  Chicago,  having  closed  the  storehouse  and 
delivered  the  keys  to  Doctor  Van  Voorhis.757 

With  the  plans  for  the  restoration  of  the  Chicago  factory  after 
the  war  Irwin  was  again  appointed  factor,  but  before  the  factory 
had  actually  been  established  his  appointment  was  changed  from 
Chicago  to  Green  Bay.  His  was  the  only  incumbency  of  the 
latter  factory,  his  service  there  continuing  from  its  establishment 
in  1 8 1 6  to  the  abandonment  of  the  factory  system  six  years  later. 
Irwin  returned  to  Pennsylvania,  his  native  state,  where  he  died 
in  1845. 7s8  He  was  of  medium  height,  well  proportioned,  "of 
pleasing  deportment,  and  quite  interesting  and  popular  in  his 
address." 

From  the  records  of  the  Department  of  Indian  Trade,  and  the 
reports  of  the  Superintendent  printed  in  the  volumes  of  the 
American  State  Papers  devoted  to  Indian  affairs,  considerable 
information  concerning  the  operations  of  the  Chicago  factory  can 
be  gleaned.  The  buildings  of  the  factory  cost  $1,000,  and  the 
value  of  the  furniture  prior  to  the  war  was  placed  at  $134. 31. 7S9 
The  operations  for  the  four-year  period  ending  September  30, 
1811,  produced  a  profit  of  $3,454. 24. 76°  This  favorable  showing 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  peltries  received  at  the  Chicago 
factory  consisted  chiefly  of  hatters'  furs  on  which  a  profit  was 
made,  and  shaved  deer  skins,  which  deteriorated  comparatively 
little  in  handling.761  For  the  year  ending  April  i,  1812,  the  busi- 
ness done  at  Chicago  showed  a  profit  of  $1,773 .94,  a  larger  gain 
than  for  any  similar  period  thus  far.76j  At  the  last  mentioned 

»6  Ibid.,  348,  Mason  to  Irwin,  May  6,  i8og. 

«T  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book  C,  131,  Mason  to  Irwin,  February  9,  1813. 

is>  For  a  sketch  of  Irwin's  life  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  VII,  269-70. 

«•  American  Slate  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,  770,  792. 

»«•  Ibid.,  792.  !"  Ibid.,  788,  792.  »«» Ibid.,  II,  40. 


300  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

date  the  stock  on  hand  amounted  to  almost  $12,500,  and  the  total 
value  of  the  stock,  buildings,  peltries,  and  other  assets  was 
$13,727 . 15.  When  Fort  Dearborn  was  evacuated  in  the  follow- 
ing August,  Captain  Heald  distributed  the  merchandise  of  the 
factory,  amounting  in  value  to  more  than  $6,000,  among  the 
Indians.  Prior  to  this  nearly  $5,000  worth  of  peltries  and  furs 
had  been  shipped  to  Mackinac,  all  of  which,  like  the  peltries 
belonging  to  Kinzie  and  Forsyth,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
British.  Together  with  the  loss  incurred  through  debts  owed  by 
the  Indians  or  by  members  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  garrison,  and 
the  destruction  of  the  buildings  and  furniture  of  the  factory,  the 
total  loss  of  the  Chicago  factory  was  $I3,O74.47.7<53 

That  the  operations  of  the  Chicago  factory  prior  to  the  War 
of  1812  were,  on  the  whole,  successful,  can  scarcely  be  doubted. 
The  realization  of  a  profit  from  the  Indian  trade  had  never  entered 
into  the  calculations  of  the  founders  of  the  factory  system,  yet, 
as  has  been  shown,  a  steady  profit  was  realized  from  the  Chicago 
factory,  at  least  from  the  year  1807  on.  How  well  the  factory 
fulfilled  its  primary  function  of  regulating  the  prices  of  the  private 
traders  is  significantly  shown  by  the  unconscious  testimony  of 
Black  Partridge  and  Petchaho,  the  latter  the  brother  and 
successor  of  Gomo,  the  head  chief  of  the  Illinois  River  Potta- 
watomies.  In  1814  they  complained  to  Thomas  Forsyth,  who 
visited  them  as  a  representative  of  the  United  States  Indian 
Department,  of  the  high  prices  of  goods  in  the  sutler's  store  at 
Fort  Clark.  They  pleaded  that  the  United  States  take  pity  on 
them  and  establish  a  factory  at  Fort  Clark,  and  expressed 
the  hope  that  they  would  be  able  to  get  goods  as  cheap  in 
this  way  "as  they  formerly  did  in  the  factory  at  Chicago."764 
At  another  time  Forsyth  himself,  than  whom  no  one  was 
more  familiar  with  the  conditions  affecting  the  Indian  trade 
in  Illinois,  stated  that  no  one  who  bought  his  goods  in  this 
country  could  sell  them  as  cheaply  as  the  factories.  The 
British  traders  only  could  oppose  the  factories,  and  this  was 

»«» American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  II,  59. 
**  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  337. 


MRS.  REBEKAH  HEALD 

From  a  daguerreotype  taken  in  later  life 

B    courtesy  of  Mrs.  Lillian  Heald  Richmond,  St.  Louis,  Missouri) 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  301 

possible  because  of  their  extensive  credit,  and  the  superior 
quality  of  their  goods.765 

From  the  time  of  its  re-establishment  in  1816  the  factory- 
was  conducted  at  Chicago  until  the  abolition  of  the  government 
trading-house  system  in  1822;  but  the  Chicago  factory  did  not 
acquire  during  this  time  the  trade  and  influence  enjoyed  by  the 
first  factory  in  the  period  before  the  War  of  1812.  The  reasons 
for  this  failure  to  recover  the  old-time  influence  will  be  set  forth 
in  connection  with  the  consideration  of  the  failure  and  abolition 
of  the  factory  system  as  a  whole. 

We  have  seen  that  the  system  of  government  trading  houses 
was  entered  upon  as  an  experiment,  and  that  as  such  it  was 
renewed  from  time  to  time.  Congress  never  abolished  the  earlier 
system  of  licensed  private  traders,  and  never  gave  a  whole- 
hearted support  to  the  competing  system.  Herein  lay  the  chief 
cause  of  the  ultimate  failure  of  the  experiment,  and  here,  too,  is 
to  be  found  the  principal  reason  for  the  limited  degree  of  influence 
and  success  achieved  by  the  government  trading  houses  during 
its  continuance.  Upon  the  formation  of  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany by  John  Jacob  Astor,  that  powerful  corporation,  operating 
from  Mackinac  as  a  center,  undertook  to  monopolize  the  Indian 
trade  of  the  Northwest.  There  ensued  for  a  few  years  the  most 
vigorous  exploitation  of  the  fur  trade  which  this  region  ever 
witnessed.  The  American  Fur  Company,  in  connection  with 
other  private  traders,  was  antagonized  by  the  government  factory 
system,  and  consequently  left  no  stone  unturned  to  overthrow  it. 
Partly  because  of  this,  but  in  part  from  the  operation  of  other 
factors,  to  be  noted  in  their  place,  the  trade  of  the  Chicago  and 
Green  Bay  factories  largely  disappeared  prior  to  1820;  and  it  had 
been  decided,  in  fact,  to  discontinue  them  and  establish  a  new  one 
on  the  St.  Peter's  River  when  Congress,  under  the  urging  of 
Senator  Benton,  decided  in  1822  to  abolish  the  entire  factory 
system. 

The  system  of  government  trading  houses  had  been  estab- 
lished under  the  influence  of  a  twofold  motive.  The  primary 

d.,  XI,  344. 


302  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

consideration  of  the  government's  Indian  policy  was  the  mainte- 
nance of  peace  on  the  frontier.  This  could  best  be  accomplished 
by  rendering  the  Indian  contented,  and  by  freeing  him  from  the 
influence  of  foreigners.  Not  merely  his  happiness,  but  his  very 
existence  depended  upon  his  securing  from  the  whites  those 
articles  which  he  needed  but  which  he  himself  could  not  produce; 
and  since  the  private  traders  took  advantage  of  his  weakness  and 
ignorance  to  exploit  him  outrageously  in  the  conduct  of  the 
Indian  trade,  it  was  argued  that  the  welfare  of  the  Indian  would 
be  directly  promoted,  and  indirectly  the  peace  of  the  frontier,  be 
conserved,  by  the  establishment  of  government  trading  houses 
upon  the  principles  that  have  been  indicated. 

The  theory  underlying  the  government  factory  system  seemed 
sound,  but  in  practice  several  obstacles  to  its  successful  working, 
powerful  enough  in  the  aggregate  to  cause  its  abandonment,  were 
encountered.  Not  until  1816  was  an  act  passed  excluding 
foreigners  from  the  trade,  and  even  then  such  exceptions  were 
allowed  as  to  render  the  prohibition  of  little  value.766  The 
amount  of  money  devoted  to  the  factory  system  was  never  suffi- 
cient to  permit  its  extension  to  more  than  a  small  proportion  of 
the  tribes.  However  well  conducted  the  business  may  have  been, 
this  fact  alone  would  have  prevented  the  attainment  of  the  larger 
measure  of  benefit  that  had  been  anticipated. 

Another  and  inherent  cause  of  failure  lay  in  the  difficulty  of 
public  operation  of  a  business  so  special  and  highly  complicated 
in  character  as  the  conduct  of  the  Indian  trade.  Great  shrewd- 
ness, intimate  knowledge  of  the  native  character,  and  a  willing- 
ness to  endure  great  privations  were  among  the  qualifications 
essential  to  its  successful  prosecution.  The  private  trader  was  at 
home  with  the  red  man,  his  livelihood  depended  upon  his  exer- 
tions, and  he  was  free  from  the  moral  restraints  which  governed 
the  conduct  of  the  government  factor.  Above  all  he  was  his  own 
master,  free  to  adapt  his  course  to  the  exigencies  of  the  moment ; 
the  factor  was  hampered  by  regulations  prescribed  by  a  super- 

7«  See  report  of  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  to  Congress  in  1817,  in  American 
Stale  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  II,  127;  Irwin-McKenney  correspondence  and  report  of 
Jedediah  Morse  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  VII,  269  ff. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  303 

intendent  who  resided  far  distant  from  the  western  country; 
and  he,  in  turn,  by  a  Congress  which  commonly  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  his  repeated  appeals  for  amendment  of  the  act  governing 
the  conduct  of  the  trade.  The  factor's  income  was  assured, 
regardless  of  the  amount  of  trade  he  secured;  nor  was  he  affected 
by  losses  due  to  errors  of  judgment  on  his  part,  as  was  the  private 
trader.  Too  often  he  had,  at  the  time  of  his  appointment,  no 
acquaintance  with  the  Indian  or  with  the  business  put  in  his 
charge.  To  instance  a  single  case,  Jacob  Varnum  at  the  time  of 
his  appointment  to  the  Sandusky  factory  was  a  native  of  rural 
New  England,  who  had  neither  asked  for  nor  desired  such  an 
appointment.  It  is  doubtful  whether  he  had  ever  seen  an 
Indian,  and  he  was  certainly  entirely  without  mercantile  experi- 
ence; yet  he  had  for  competitors  such  men  as  John  Kinzie, 
Thomas  Forsyth,  and  Antoine  De  Champs,  men  who  had  spent 
practically  their  whole  lives  in  the  Indian  trade. 

The  goods  for  the  government  trade  must  be  bought  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  peltries  secured  in  its  conduct  must  be 
sold  here.  This  worked  disaster  to  the  enterprise  in  various 
ways.  From  their  long  experience  in  supplying  the  Indian  trade 
the  English  had  become  expert  in  the  production  of  articles  suited 
to  the  red  man's  taste.  It  was  impossible  for  the  government, 
buying  in  the  United  States,  to  match,  in  quality  and  in  attract- 
iveness to  the  Indian,  the  goods  of  the  Canadian  trader.  Even 
if  English  goods  were  purchased  of  American  importers,  the 
factory  system  was  handicapped  by  reason  of  the  higher  price 
which  must  be  paid.  On  the  other  hand  the  prohibition  against 
the  exportation  of  peltries  compelled  the  superintendent  of  the 
trade  to  dispose  of  them  in  the  American  market.  Experience 
proved  that  the  domestic  demand  for  peltries,  particularly  for 
deer  skins,  did  not  equal  the  supply;  so  that  the  restriction 
frequently  occasioned  financial  loss.  But  there  were  further 
restrictions  in  the  act  of  1806  which  narrowed  the  choice  of  a 
market  even  within  the  United  States.767  That  these  restrictions 

'"  Repor1  of  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Trade,  January  16,  1809,  American  State 
Papers,  Indian  AJfairs,  I,  756;  for  the  act  of  1806  see  Annals  of  Congress,  gth  Congress,  ist 
session,  1287-90. 


304  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

would  operate  to  diminish  the  business,  and  accordingly  the 
influence  of  the  government  trading  houses,  is  obvious. 

Another  group  of  restrictions  worked  injury  to  the  factory 
system  through  their  failure  to  accommodate  the  habits  and 
desires  of  the  Indian.  To  trade  with  the  government  the  Indian 
must  come  to  the  factory.  The  private  trader  took  his  goods  to 
the  Indian.  The  red  man  was  notably  lacking  in  prudence  and 
thrift,  and  was  careless  and  heedless  of  the  future.  He  was,  too, 
a  migratory  being,  his  winters  being  devoted  to  the  annual  hunt, 
which  frequently  carried  him  several  hundred  miles  away  from 
his  summer  residence.  Before  setting  out  on  such  a  hunt  he 
must  secure  a  suitable  equipment  of  supplies.  Since  he  never 
had  money  accumulated,  this  must  be  obtained  on  credit  and  be 
paid  for  with  the  proceeds  of  the  ensuing  winter's  hunt.  The 
factor  was  prohibited,  for  the  most  part,  from  extending  such 
credit;  the  private  trader  willingly  granted  it,  and  furthermore 
he  frequently  followed  the  Indian  on  his  hunt  to  collect  his  pay  as 
fast  as  the  furs  were  taken.  In  such  cases  as  the  factor  did 
extend  credit  to  the  Indian,  the  private  trader  often  succeeded  in 
wheedling  him  out  of  the  proceeds  of  his  hunt,  leaving  him 
nothing  with  which  to  discharge  his  debt  to  the  factor. 

The  greatest  advantage,  perhaps,  enjoyed  by  the  private 
trader  involved  at  the  same  time  the  most  disgraceful  feature 
connected  with  the  Indian  trade.  From  the  first  association  of 
the  Indian  with  the  white  race  his  love  of  liquor  proved  his 
greatest  curse.  The  literature  of  the  subject  abounds  in  narra- 
tions of  this  weakness,  and  the  unscrupulous  way  in  which  the 
white  man  took  advantage  of  it.  For  liquor  the  Indian  would 
barter  his  all.  It  constituted  an  indispensable  part  of  the  trader's 
outfit,  and  all  of  the  government's  prohibitions  against  its  use  in 
the  Indian  trade  were  in  vain,  as  had  been  those  of  the  French 
and  British  governments  before  it.  The  Indians  themselves 
realized  their  fatal  weakness,  but  although  they  frequently  pro- 
tested against  the  bringing  of  liquor  to  them,  they  were  powerless 
to  overcome  it.  The  factor  had  no  whisky  for  the  Indian,  and 
consequently  the  private  trader  secured  his  trade. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  305 

The  remedy  for  this  state  of  affairs  is  obvious.  Either  the 
government  should  have  monopolized  the  Indian  trade,  at  the 
same  time  extending  the  factory  system  to  supply  its  demands; 
or  else  the  factory  system  should  have  been  abandoned  and  the 
trade  left  entirely  to  private  individuals  under  suitable  govern- 
mental regulation.  The  former  course  had  been  urged  upon 
Congress  at  various  times,  but  no  disposition  to  adopt  it  had  ever 
been  manifested.  The  time  had  now  arrived  to  adopt  the  other 
alternative.  Soon  after  Thomas  Hart  Benton  entered  the  Senate 
he  urged  upon  Calhoun,  then  Secretary  of  War,  the  abolition  of 
the  factory  system.  Calhoun's  opinion  of  the  Superintendent 
of  Indian  Trade,  Thomas  L.  McKenney,  was  such  that  he  did 
not  credit  Benton's  charges  of  gross  mismanagement,  and 
accordingly  he  refused  to  countenance  the  proposition.768  This 
refusal  led  Benton  to  make  an  assault  upon  the  system  in  the 
Senate.769  In  this  two  advantages  favored  his  success:  as  the 
inhabitant  of  a  frontier  state  he  was  presumed  to  have  personal 
knowledge  of  the  abuses  of  the  system  he  was  attacking;  and 
as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  he  was  specially 
charged  with  the  legislative  oversight  of  matters  pertaining  to 
the  Indians. 

Benton  believed  and  labored  to  show  that  the  original  purpose 
of  the  government  trading  houses  had  been  lost  sight  of;  that  the 
administration  of  the  system  had  been  marked  by  stupidity  and 
fraud;  that  the  East  had  been  preferred  to  the  West  by  the 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Trade  in  making  purchases  and  sales; 
in  short  that  the  factory  system  constituted  a  great  abuse,  the 
continued  maintenance  of  which  was  desired  only  by  those 
private  interests  which  found  a  profit  therein.  In  view  of  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  situation  his  conclusion  that  the  government 
trading  houses  should  be  abolished  was  probably  wise;  but  the 
reasons  on  which  he  based  this  conclusion  were  largely  erroneous. 
His  information  was  gained  from  such  men  as  Ramsey  Crooks, 

"« Benton,  Thirty  Years  View,  I,  21. 

"»  For  the  debate  see  Annals  of  Congress,  ryth  Congress,  ist  session,  I,  317  ff.  For  the 
documents  see  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  II,  passim. 


306        •        CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

then  and  for  long  years  a  leader  in  the  councils  of  the  American 
Fur  Company.  This  organization  had  a  direct  interest  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  factory  system.  Its  estimate  of  the  value  of  the 
latter  was  about  as  disingenuous  as  would  be  the  opinion  today 
of  the  leader  of  a  liquor  dealers'  organization  of  the  merits  of  the 
Prohibition  party.  In  view  of  the  charges  of  Crooks  it  is  perti- 
nent to  inquire  why,  if  the  factory  system  was  so  innocuous,  the 
American  Fur  Company  was  so  eager  to  destroy  it;  and  if  a 
monopoly  of  the  fur  trade  was  so  repugnant  to  the  sense  of  fairness 
why  was  Crooks  willing  to  see  his  company  replace  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  in  the  enjoyment  of  that  monopoly  ?77° 
Benton's  charge  of  fraud  on  the  part  of  the  superintendent 
and  the  factors  failed  to  convince  the  majority  of  the  senators 
who  spoke  in  the  debate,  and  the  student  of  the  subject  today 
must  conclude  that  the  evidence  does  not  sustain  them.  There 
was  more  truth  in  his  charges  with  respect  to  unwise  management 
of  the  enterprise;  but  for  this  Congress,  rather  than  the  super- 
intendent and  factors,  was  primarily  responsible.  It  is  evident, 
too,  that  in  spite  of  his  claim  to  speak  from  personal  knowledge, 
Benton  might  well  have  been  better  informed  about  the  subject 
of  the  Indian  trade.  One  of  his  principal  charges  concerned  the 
unsuitability  of  the  articles  selected  for  it  by  the  superintendent. 
But  the  list  of  items  which  he  read  to  support  this  charge  but 
partially  supported  his  contention.771  Upon  one  item,  eight  gross 
of  jews'-harps,  the  orator  fairly  exhausted  his  powers  of  sarcasm 
and  invective.  Yet  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  subject  under  dis- 
cussion would  have  spared  him  this  effort.  Ramsey  Crooks  could 
have  informed  him  that  jews'-harps  were  a  well-known  article  of 
the  Indian  trade.  Only  a  year  before  this  tirade  was  delivered 
the  American  Fur  Company  had  supplied  a  single  trader  with  four 
gross  of  these  articles  for  his  winter's  trade  on  the  Mississippi.772 

"•  Chittenden,  American  Fur  Trade  of  the  Far  West,  I,  18. 

IT  Annals  of  Congress,  lyth  Congress,  ist  session,  I,  319. 

"•  American  Fur  Company  invoices  of  goods  sold  to  traders,  MSS  in  the  Detroit  Public 
Library.  For  similar  invoices  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  377-79;  Michigan 
Pioneer  Collections,  XXXVII,  300-11.  Mr.  Lewis  Beeson  of  Niles,  Michigan,  has  several 
dozen  jews'-harps  in  his  collection  of  relics  from  the  site  of  old  Fort  St.  Joseph. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  307 

Although  Benton's  charges  so  largely  failed  of  substantiation, 
yet  the  Senate  approved  his  motion  for  the  abolition  of  the  fac- 
tory system.  The  reasons  for  this  action  are  evident  from  the 
debate.773  Even  his  colleagues  on  the  Committee  of  Indian 
Affairs  did  not  accept  Benton's  charges  of  maladministration. 
They  reported  the  bill  for  the  abolition  of  the  trading-house 
system  in  part  because  of  their  objections  to  the  system  itself. 
It  had  never  been  extended  to  more  than  a  fraction  of  the  Indians 
on  the  frontier;  to  extend  it  to  all  of  them  would  necessitate  a 
largely  increased  capital,  and  would  result  in  a  multiplication  of 
the  obstacles  already  encountered  on  a  small  scale.  The  com- 
plicated nature  of  the  Indian  trade  was  such  that  only  individual 
enterprise  and  industry  was  fitted  to  conduct  it  with  success. 
Finally  the  old  argument  which  had  been  wielded  against  the 
initiation  of  the  system,  that  it  was  not  a  proper  governmental 
function,  was  employed.  The  trade  should  be  left  to  indi- 
viduals, the  government  limiting  itself  to  regulating  properly 
their  activities. 

Benton's  method  of  abolishing  the  factory  system  exhibited 
as  little  evidence  of  statesmanship  as  did  that  employed  by 
Jackson  in  his  more  famous  enterprise  of  destroying  the  second 
United  States  Bank.  In  1818  Calhoun,  as  Secretary  of  War, 
had  been  directed  by  Congress  to  prop>ose  a  plan  for  the  abolition 
of  the  trading-house  system.  In  his  report  he  pointed  out  that 
two  objects  should  be  held  in  view  in  winding  up  its  affairs:  to 
sustain  as  little  loss  as  possible,  and  to  withdraw  from  the  trade 
gradually  in  order  that  the  place  vacated  by  the  government 
might  be  filled  by  others  with  as  little  disturbance  as  prac- 
ticable.774 Neither  of  these  considerations  was  heeded  by 
Benton.  He  succeeded  in  so  changing  the  bill  for  the  abolition 
of  the  system  as  to  provide  that  the  termination  of  its  affairs 
should  be  consummated  within  a  scant  two  months,  and  by 
another  set  of  men  than  the  factors  and  superintendent.773 

"» See,  for  example,  the  arguments  of  Johnson  and  Lowrie,  Annals  of  Congress,  i?th 
Congress,  ist  session,  I,  330-44. 

»«  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Afairs,  II,  181-85- 

•=•>*  Annals  uf  Congress,  lyth  Congress,  ist  session,  I,  318,  351,  354. 


308  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

That  considerable  loss  should  be  incurred  in  winding  up  such 
a  business  was  inevitable.  Calhoun's  suggestions  would  have 
minimized  this  as  much  as  possible.  Benton's  plan  caused  the 
maximum  of  loss  to  the  government  and  of  confusion  to  the 
Indian  trade.  According  to  a  report  made  to  Congress  in  1824 
on  the  abolition  of  the  factory  system,  a  loss  of  over  50  per  cent 
of  the  capital  stock  was  sustained.776 

The  journal  of  Jacob  Varnum  sheds  some  light  upon  the  losses 
sustained  at  the  Chicago  factory,  by  reason  of  the  operation  of 
Benton's  amendments.  Varnum  relates  that  A.  B.  Lindsay,  "a 
hanger-on  about  the  offices  for  an  appointment  for  years,"  super- 
seded him  in  charge  of  the  factory.  "After  remaining  in  Chicago 
as  long  as  his  instructions  would  permit  without  making  any  sale 
or  collecting  the  debts,  he  packed  all  the  goods  and  shipped  them 
to  Detroit,  where  they  were  again  offered  for  sale;  and  were 
finally  auctioned  off  without  a  guarantee  of  any  kind  as  to  pay- 
ment. They  sold  at  good  prices — the  purchasers,  not  intending 
to  pay,  were  indifferent  as  to  the  prices  offered,  and,  what  was 
foreseen  in  Detroit,  no  satisfaction  of  value  was  received  by  the 
government,  and  Lindsay,  a  man  without  a  single  business 
qualification,  got  credit  for  the  prompt  and  satisfactory  manner 
with  which  he  had  closed  the  business,  and  subsequently  received 
an  appointment  in  the  Custom  service." 

These  statements,  coming  from  an  interested  source,  should, 
of  course,  be  subjected  to  due  scrutiny;  but  in  at  least  one  respect 
they  receive  confirmation  from  Lindsay  himself.  In  1823  in  the 
course  of  a  congressional  investigation  into  the  closing  up  of  the 
Indian  trading  houses,  under  cross-examination  at  the  hands  of 
McKenney,  the  deposed  superintendent,  Lindsay  stated  that  he 
had  never  been  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade,  and  that  he  did  not 
know  the  proper  weight  of  a  three-point  northwest  blanket,  nor 
what  its  dimensions  should  be.777  It  further  appears  from  the 
financial  statement  rendered  by  him  that  though  the  property  at 
Chicago  invoiced  nearly  $16,000  he  turned  over  to  the  govern' 
ment  less  than  $1,250  in  cash,  the  two  principal  items  in  his 

"«  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  II,  513.  '"  Ibid.,  420. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADE  309 

account  consisting,  in  round  numbers,  of  bills  receivable  to  the 
amount  of  $5,000  and  losses  on  sales  of  $7,ooo.778 

The  failure  of  the  trading-house  system  constitutes  but  one 
chapter  in  the  long  and  sorrowful  story  of  the  almost  total  failure 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  realize  in  practice  its 
good  intentions  toward  the  Indians.  The  factory  system  was 
entered  upon  from  motives  of  prudence  and  humanity;  that  it 
was  .productive  of  beneficial  results  cannot  be  successfully  dis- 
puted; that  it  failed  to  achieve  the  measure  of  benefit  to  the  red 
race  and  the  white  for  which  its  advocates  had  hoped  must  be 
attributed  by  the  student,  as  it  was  by  Calhoun,  "not  to  a  want 
of  dependence  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  on  commercial  supplies 
but  to  defects  in  the  system  itself,  or  in  its  administration."779 
The  fatal  error  arose  from  the  timidity  of  the  government. 
Instead  of  monopolizing  the  field  of  the  Indian  trade,  it  entered 
upon  it  as  the  competitor  of  the  private  trader.  Since  its  agents 
could  not  stoop  to  the  practices  to  which  the  latter  resorted,  the 
failure  of  the  experiment  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  Yet  it  did 
not  follow  from  this  failure  that  with  a  monopoly  of  the  field  the 
government  would  not  have  rendered  better  service  to  the  public 
than  did  the  private  traders.  Lacking  the  courage  of  its  con- 
victions, it  permitted  the  failure  of  perhaps  the  most  promising 
experiment  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  red  man 
upon  which  it  has  ever  embarked. 

d.,  518.  "'Ibid.,  181-85. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE 

Almost  a  dozen  years  had  passed  since  the  coming  of  Captain 
Bradley's  troops  to  Chicago  to  plant  again  the  banner  of  civiliza- 
tion on  the  spot  where  savagery  had  triumphed  in  1812,  and 
nearly  half  as  many  since  the  garrison  had  been  withdrawn 
from  Fort  Dearborn  in  1823,  when  the  humdrum  quiet  of  the 
little  settlement  was  broken  by  new  rumors  of  war.  Two 
Indian  wars  and  a  visitation  of  war's  twin  scourge  of  humanity, 
the  plague,  coming  in  quick  succession,  served  to  relieve  the 
monotony  of  life  at  Chicago  during  the  next  few  years. 

The  first  of  the  Indian  outbreaks,  the  Winnebago  War, 
occasioned  little  actual  fighting,  but  it  filled  the  frontier  settle- 
ments with  alarm,  caused  the  movement  of  several  hundred 
soldiers,  many  of  them  for  hundreds  of  miles,  and  was  con- 
cluded by  a  formal  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  the 
disaffected  tribes.  That  it  was  not  attended  by  more  bloodshed 
was  due  to  the  prompt  display  by  the  government  of  an  over- 
whelming military  force  which  awed  the  red  man  into  submission. 

Driven  to  desperation  by  the  encroachments  and  aggressions 
of  the  whites,  and  encouraged,  possibly,  by  the  removal  of  the 
garrisons  from  Chicago  and  Prairie  du  Chien,  the  Winnebagoes 
in  the  summer  of  1827  were  in  a  mood  for  war.  The  first  out- 
break occurred  on  the  upper  Mississippi  toward  the  end  of  June. 
A  keelboat,  returning  from  a  trip  to  Fort  Snelling  with  provisions 
for  the  garrison  at  Fort  Crawford,  was  attacked  by  the  Winne- 
bagoes near  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe  River.  On  the  same  day 
a  murderous  assault  was  made  upon  the  family  of  a  Canadian 
half-breed  named  Gagnier,  living  a  short  distance  from  Prairie 
du  Chien.780  The  nature  of  the  immediate  provocation  for  the 
attack  upon  the  keelboat  is  a  matter  of  dispute.  The  assault 

'••  On  these  events  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  passim. 

310 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  311 

upon  the  family  of  Gagnier,  however,  was  deliberately  planned 
by  a  band  of  Winnebagoes,  which  had  suffered  great  indignities  at 
the  hands  of  the  whites.781  The  leaders  of  the  band  deliberated 
over  their  wrongs  and  resolved  to  enforce  the  native  law  of 
retaliation.  The  choice  of  the  agent  to  commit  the  act  fell  upon 
Red  Bird,  a  chief  who  was  beloved  by  the  Indians  and  respected 
and  admired  by  the  whites.  Noted  for  his  friendly  disposition 
toward  the  whites,  Red  Bird  undertook  the  commission  of  his 
band  with  the  intention  of  pretending  to  fulfil  it  and  reporting 
to  his  tribe  that  he  had  been  unable  to  find  a  victim. 

This  plan,  unfortunately,  miscarried.  Being  upbraided  for 
his  conduct  and  taunted  as  a  coward,  Red  Bird  resolved  to 
redeem  his  reputation  and  set  out  for  Prairie  du  Chien,  accom- 
panied by  WeKau  and  a  third  Indian,  determined  to  execute  his 
commission  in  grim  earnest.  The  chance  presence  of  an  old 
trader  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Lockwood,  which  the  party  first 
visited,  caused  them  to  refrain  from  committing  there  the 
intended  violence.782  Crossing  the  prairie  they  came  to  the 
house  of  Gagnier.  about  three  miles  from  the  town.  Here  they 
found  the  husband,  his  wife,  a  babe  of  eleven  months,  and  a 
discharged  soldier  named  Lipcap.  The  presence  of  the  visitors 
at  first  excited  no  particular  comment.  They  asked  for  food  and 
Mrs.  Gagnier  had  turned  to  provide  it  when  the  bloody  work 
began.  Gagnier  was  shot  by  Red  Bird  and  Lipcap  by  the  third 
Indian,  while  Mrs.  Gagnier  engaged  in  a  struggle  with  WeKau 
in  which  she  succeeded  in  wresting  from  him  his  gun.  He  turned 
and  ran  and  she  pursued  him,  but  overcome  by  excitement  or 
fear,  and  finding  herself  powerless  to  fire  the  gun,  she  made  her 
way  to  the  village  and  gave  the  alarm.  Meanwhile  WeKau 
again  entered  the  cabin  and  scalped  the  babe,  apparently  exe- 
cuting the  horrible  task  with  deliberation  in  order  to  secure  as 
much  hair  with  the  scalp  as  possible.  When  a  posse  arrived 
from  Prairie  du  Chien  the  murderers  had  departed;  the  babe 
was  still  alive  and,  strangely  enough,  recovered  from  its  ghastly 
wounds  and  grew  to  womanhood. 

:»•  Ibid.,  V,  201  ff.  »••  Ibid.,  II,  161;  V,  199. 


312  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

In  the  same  month  of  June,  1827,  Governor  Cass  and  Colonel 
Thomas  L.  McKenney  were  sent  to  negotiate  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States  a  treaty  with  the  Winnebagoes  and  other  tribes 
of  Wisconsin  respecting  the  boundaries  which  had  been  provided 
for  in  the  Treaty  of  Prairie  du  Chien  of  1825. 783  On  reaching 
Butte  des  Morts  on  Fox  River,  the  place  designated  for  the 
council,  the  commissioners  found  but  a  single  band  of  Winne- 
bagoes represented,  and  learned  at  the  same  time  of  the  hostile 
disposition  of  the  tribe  and  of  the  outrages  committed  on  the 
Mississippi. 

In  this  emergency  Cass  decided  on  a  bold  and  energetic 
course.  Leaving  the  camp  at  Butte  des  Morts  in  charge  of 
Colonel  McKenney,  he  himself  set  out  in  a  large  canoe  manned 
by  a  dozen  boatmen  for  the  seat  of  trouble.784  The  route  to 
Prairie  du  Chien  led  through  the  midst  of  the  disaffected  tribe. 
In  his  descent  of  the  Wisconsin  River  Cass  came  upon  the 
Winnebago  encampment.  Undaunted  by  the  manifest  signs  of 
hostility  which  were  displayed  on  his  approach  he  landed  and 
harangued  the  savages  and  persuaded  them  to  smoke  the  calumet. 
As  he  turned  to  leave,  a  young  brave  sought  to  assassinate  him, 
but  the  attempt  was  frustrated  by  an  older  man  striking  his  gun 
aside. 

On  reaching  Prairie  du  Chien  on  the  morning  of  July  4 
Cass  did  what  he  could  to  encourage  the  terrified  settlers,  who 
were  gathered  in  the  abandoned  Fort  Crawford  in  momentary 
expectation  of  an  attack,  and  took  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States  the  impromptu  military  company  which  had  been  organ- 
ized.785 He  then  passed  quickly  down  to  Galena,  the  center  of 
the  lead-mining  district.  The  news  from  Prairie  du  Chien  of 
the  Indian  hostilities  had  spread  terror  and  dismay  among  the 

"»  Smith,  Life  and  Times  of  Lewis  Cass,  185;  Young,  Life  of  General  Cass,  93;  School- 
craft,  Personal  Memoirs,  265-67. 

"«On  Cass's  trip  see  Schoolcraft,  Personal  Memoirs,  266;  Smith,  Cass,  185-00; 
Young,  Cass,  93-96;  Hubbard,  Life,  150-51;  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  II,  166,  330; 
V,  156-57- 

"5  For  the  occurrences  at  Prairie  du  Chien  see  James  H.  Lockwood's  narrative, 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  II,  157  fl. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  313 

miners,  who  with  one  accord  fled  in  wildest  panic  to  Galena.786 
The  roads  were  lined  with  men,  women,  and  children  in  momen- 
tary fear  of  the  dread  tomahawk  or  scalping-knife,  and  the 
encampment  of  the  fugitives  on  Apple  River  on  the  first  night 
of  the  alarm  was  said  to  have  extended  four  miles  and  numbered 
three  thousand  persons.  Such  was  the  state  of  confusion  and 
panic  when  Cass  arrived  at  Galena  on  July  6.  Quickly  enrolling 
a  company  of  riflemen,  it  was  dispatched  on  a  keelboat  for 
Prairie  du  Chien,  while  Cass's  canoemen  sped  onward  in  the 
opposite  direction  to  carry  the  news  to  St.  Louis  and  set  the  regu- 
lars under  General  Atkinson's  command  at  Jefferson  Barracks 
in  motion.  The  destination  was  reached  in  record  time,787  and 
soon  Atkinson  at  the  head  of  seven  hundred  troops  was  proceed- 
ing up  the  Mississippi  River  by  steamer  to  the  scene  of  hostilities. 

Instead  of  returning  with  the  regulars,  Cass  and  his  party 
ascended  the  Illinois  River  to  Chicago.  Fortunately  for  them 
heavy  rains  had  raised  the  Des  Plaines  to  such  a  height  that  it 
was  possible  to  pass  up  it  and  across  the  portage  to  Chicago 
without  disembarking  from  the  canoe.  In  the  course  of  this 
passage  nightfall  overtook  the  party  in  Mud  Lake.  Fearful  of 
staving  a  hole  in  their  birch-bark  canoe,  the  boatmen  anchored 
it  by  thrusting  their  paddles  into  the  mud  on  either  side.  In 
this  dreary  spot,  tormented  by  mosquitoes  and  with  the  rain 
descending  in  torrents  to  the  accompaniment  of  intense  thunder 
and  lightning,  the  future  senator,  cabinet  officer,  and  presidential 
candidate  passed  the  hot  July  night. 

The  arrival  of  Cass  at  Chicago  the  following  morning  has 
been  described  by  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  who  chanced  to  be  in 
Chicago  at  this  time,  at  the  home  of  his  friend,  John  Kinzie.788 
The  inmates  of  the  household  were  at  breakfast  when  the  sound 

»«*  Ibid.,  II,  329. 

»•'  On  the  rapidity  of  Cass's  descent  of  the  Mississippi  see  Young,  Cass,  96;  Smith, 
Cass,  189-90;  Schoolcraft  says  (Personal  Memoirs,  267)  that  the  entire  circuit  from  Butte 
des  Morts  to  Saint  Louis,  and  back  again  by  way  of  the  Illinois  River  and  Chicago,  was  made 
"in  an  incredible  short  space  of  time." 

"'Hubbard,  Life,  150-51;  Caldwell  and  Shabonee,  in  "Fergus  Historical  Series," 
No.  10,  41-46;  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  VII,  341-43. 


314  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

of  the  Canadian  boat  song  was  heard,  faintly  at  first,  but  gradu- 
ally growing  louder.  Kinzie  recognized  the  leading  voice  as 
that  of  his  nephew,  Robert  Forsyth,  private  secretary  to  Gov- 
ernor Cass,  and  made  his  way  to  the  front  porch,  followed  by 
the  rest  of  the  company.  Looking  up  the  river  they  beheld 
Cass's  canoe  bearing  rapidly  down  upon  them,  the  boatmen 
keeping  time  with  their  paddles  to  the  music  of  the  song.  It 
was  soon  at  hand  and  during  the  brief  stay  which  Cass  made 
the  Chicagoans  learned  for  the  first  time  of  the  outbreak  of  war 
and  the  outrages  on  the  Mississippi.  They  learned,  also,  the 
reason  of  the  unusual  conduct  of  Big  Foot's  band  of  Indians  at 
Chicago  a  few  days  before.789  The  buildings  of  the  abandoned 
Fort  Dearborn  were  at  this  time  under  the  custody  of  the  Indian 
agent,  Doctor  Alexander  Wolcott.  With  his  family  he  was  living 
in  one  of  them,  while  the  others  were  occupied  by  several  French 
and  American  families.  The  annual  payment  to  the  Potta- 
watomies  had  drawn  to  Chicago  a  large  number  of  Indians. 
Upon  receiving  their  annuity  all  had  departed  except  a  portion 
of  Big  Foot's  band,  who  lived  at  the  modern  Lake  Geneva. 
In  the  night  following  the  payment,  during  a  violent  storm  of 
wind  and  rain,  the  soldiers'  barracks  were  struck  by  lightning 
and  destroyed,  together  with  the  storehouse  and  a  portion  of  the 
guardhouse. 

The  alarm  of  fire  soon  roused  the  little  settlement,  and  men 
and  women  to  the  number  of  about  forty  turned  out.  The 
barracks  and  storehouse  were  seen  to  be  doomed  and  so  the 
attention  was  devoted  to  saving  the  remaining  structures. 
Robert  Kinzie,  wrapped  in  a  wet  blanket,  mounted  to  the  roof 
of  the  guardhouse,  which  was  already  on  fire,  while  the  others 
formed  a  line  to  the  river  along  which  water  was  passed  to  him 
in  buckets  and  other  available  utensils.  Despite  his  burns  and 
the  danger  he  ran,  Kinzie  maintained  his  position  until,  about 
dawn,  the  fire  was  subdued.  During  all  this  time  Big  Foot's 
followers  idly  viewed  the  struggle,  ignoring  the  appeals  made  to 
them  for  assistance.  The  next  day  they  started  for  their  homes, 

'«»  American  Historical  Collections,  loc.  cit. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  315 

but  the  subject  of  their  strange  behavior  furnished  food  for 
discussion  at  Chicago,  until  the  information  brought  by  Cass 
a  few  days  later  explained  it  and  their  disaffection. 

With  the  departure  of  Cass  the  inhabitants  of  Chicago 
assembled  for  consultation.790  It  was  determined  to  send  the 
chiefs,  Shabbona  and  Billy  Caldwell,  to  Big  Foot's  village  to 
gather  information  concerning  the  plans  of  the  Winnebagoes 
and  the  intentions  of  Big  Foot's  band.  The  friendly  chiefs  at 
once  departed  upon  their  mission.  On  reaching  Lake  Geneva 
they  separated;  Caldwell  secreted  himself  near  the  town,  while 
Shabbona  entered  it,  and  was  promptly  imprisoned  on  the 
charge  of  being  a  spy  and  a  friend  of  the  Americans.  This 
he  denied,  pretending  that  having  heard  of  the  threatened 
hostilities  with  the  whites  he  had  come  to  take  counsel  with 
Big  Foot's  followers  concerning  the  course  of  his  own  people. 
By  dint  of  argument  and  dissimulation  he  finally  obtained 
permission  to  return,  accompanied  by  a  number  of  Big  Foot's 
band,  to  his  village.  Both  Caldwell  and  Shabbona  separately 
made  their  way  back  to  Chicago  and  reported  the  result  of 
their  mission. 

Their  report  plunged  the  settlement  into  a  state  of  panic 
akin  to  that  which  had  earlier  seized  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
Prairie  du  Chien  and  Galena.  A  consultation  was  held,  in  the 
course  of  which  Hubbard  suggested  that  a  messenger  be  sent  to 
the  settlements  on  the  Wabash  for  assistance.  Volunteers  for 
this  service  were  called  for,  but  no  one  except  Hubbard  himself 
appeared  desirous  of  undertaking  it;  against  his  going  the  objec- 
tion was  raised  that  in  his  absence  no  one  else  could  control  the 
voyageurs,  most  of  whom  were  in  his  employ.  Notwithstanding 
this,  it  was  finally  decided  that  Hubbard  should  go.  He  left 
Chicago  in  the  afternoon  and  reached  Danville,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  away,  on  the  following  day,  having  changed 
mounts  about  midnight  at  his  trading  house  on  the  Iroquois 
River.  The  news  of  his  mission  was  spread  abroad,  and  a  force 
of  fifty  men  or  more  was  quickly  raised  to  march  to  the  relief 

»•  Ibid. 


316  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

of  Chicago.791  Before  starting  five  days'  rations  were  cooked. 
Many  of  the  volunteers  were  without  horses  of  their  own.  Most 
of  these  were  supplied  with  mounts  by  neighbors  who  were  to 
stay  at  home,  but  the  number  of  horses  available  was  insufficient 
to  supply  all  the  men  and  five  set  forth  on  foot.  In  other  respects 
the  company's  equipment  was  even  more  inadequate.  The 
food  supply  was  insufficient  and  the  arms  were  most  hetero- 
geneous in  character.  Squirrel  rifles,  flintlocks,  old  muskets, 
"or  anything  like  a  gun"  that  could  be  found  had  been  seized, 
and  some  of  the  men  had  no  guns  at  all.  The  latter,  as  well  as 
those  whose  arms  were  insufficient,  were  supplied  by  Hubbard, 
who  also  issued  flour  and  salt  pork,  from  his  trading  house  on 
the  Iroquois  River. 

The  march  to  Chicago  was  completed,  after  numerous  vicissi- 
tudes, near  the  close  of  the  fourth  day.  The  Vermilion  River 
was  up,  running  bank  full  and  with  a  strong  current.  The  men 
and  saddles  were  taken  across  in  a  canoe  and  an  effort  was  made 
to  compel  the  horses  to  swim.  When  the  force  of  the  current 
struck  them,  however,  they  would  circle  about  and  return  to 
the  bank.  Provoked  at  the  delay  Hubbard  mounted  "old 
Charley,"  a  large,  steadygoing  horse,  and  plunged  in,  the  other 
horses  being  driven  in  after  him.  In  the  swift  current  "Charley" 
became  unmanageable,  when  Hubbard  dismounted  on  the  upper 
side,  and  seizing  him  by  the  mane  with  one  hand  and  swimming 
with  the  other  guided  him  toward  the  opposite  shore.  During 
the  march  rain  fell  most  of  the  time.  The  condition  of  the 
streams  and  the  intervening  country  compelled  some  of  the 
footmen  to  turn  back,  and  two  of  the  men  with  horses  also 
abandoned  the  expedition. 

The  company  reached  Chicago  in  the  midst  of  a  tremendous 
thunder  storm.  The  welcome  extended  by  the  settlers,  who 
had  been  in  momentary  expectation  of  an  attack,  was  naturally 
most  hearty.  If  the  narrator's  reminiscences  may  be  trusted, 

«•  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  narrative  of  Hezekiah  Cunningham,  in  "Fergus 
Historical  Series,"  No.  10,  47  ff.  Cunningham,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Danville  com- 
pany which  marched  to  Chicago,  says  it  numbered  fifty  men,  while  Hubbard  gives  the 
number  as  one  hundred. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  317 

a  touch  of  genuine  burlesque  was  now  added  to  the  warlike  scenes 
of  the  last  few  days.  During  Hubbard's  absence  the  settlers 
had  organized  a  military  company  composed  of  a  few  Americans 
interspersed  among  a  considerable  number  of  Canadian  half- 
breeds.  The  former,  perceiving  that  the  Danville  company  was 
a  better-looking  crowd  than  their  own,  proposed  to  abandon 
their  associates  and  join  it.  This  feeling  stirred  up  a  quarrel, 
but  the  officers  quelled  the  disturbance  and  the  discontented  men 
remained  with  their  own  command.  The  Danville  company 
remained  at  Chicago  a  number  of  days,  keeping  guard  day  and 
night,  until  news  arrived  from  Green  Bay  that  a  treaty  of  peace 
had  been  made  with  the  Winnebagoes.  In  their  joy  over  the 
good  news  the  citizens  brought  forth  barrels  of  whisky  and 
other  liquors  and  a  general  drinking  bout  ensued. 

Thus  hilariously  ended  Chicago's  part  in  the  Winnebago 
War.  Its  speedy  and  bloodless  conclusion  was  due  primarily 
to  the  energetic  measures  of  Governor  Cass.  From  Chicago  he 
had  passed  up  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  to  Green 
Bay,  and  entering  the  Fox  River  had  come  again  to  the  place 
of  council  at  Butte  des  Morts,  after  a  circuit  of  eighteen  hundred 
miles.  The  prompt  movement  of  troops  from  every  direction 
upon  the  country  of  the  Winnebagoes  quickly  convinced  them 
of  the  hopelessness  of  resistance.  From  Jefferson  Barracks, 
Fort  Snelling,  and  Fort  Howard,  detachments  of  regulars  con- 
verged upon  the  disaffected  tribesmen,  while  a  force  of  volun- 
teers from  Galena  under  General  Dodge  marched  overland 
toward  the  Wisconsin  Portage.  On  August  n  Cass  concluded 
with  the  tribes  concerned  the  treaty  of  Butte  des  Morts,  which 
settled,  for  the  time  being,  the  boundary  questions  which  had 
grown  out  of  the  Treaty  of  Prairie  du  Chien  of  i825.792  Although 
the  Winnebagoes  were  parties  to  the  treaty,  the  liberty  was 
reserved  by  the  United  States  of  punishing  the  perpetrators  of 
the  recent  outrages  and  exacting  from  them  guaranties  of  good 
conduct  in  the  future. 

»»  Treaties  between  the  United  Stales  of  America  and  the  Several  Indian  Tribes,  from 
1778  to  1837,  412-15. 


3i8  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  treaty  concluded,  Cass  returned  to  Detroit,  while  the 
military  continued  its  task  of  running  down  the  culprits  wanted. 
On  September  i  the  troops  from  Fort  Howard  under  command 
of  Major  Whistler  encamped  at  the  Fox- Wisconsin  Portage.793 
The  following  day  three  separate  messages  arrived  from  the 
hostile  Winnebago  encampment  announcing  that  the  murderers, 
WeKau  and  Red  Bird,  would  be  surrendered  the  day  after,  and 
begging  the  military  not  to  strike.  The  murders  at  Prairie  du 
Chien  had  been  committed  deliberately  in  accordance  with  the 
Indian  law  of  retaliation.  From  their  standpoint  the  murderers 
had  perpetrated  no  crime,  but  had  performed  a  meritorious  and 
public-spirited  act.  Yet  now  that  the  white  man's  armies  were 
at  hand,  they  voluntarily  surrendered  themselves  to  save  their 
countrymen  from  further  punishment. 

About  noon  of  the  following  day  a  body  of  Indians  was 
descried  approaching  Whistler's  camp.  As  they  drew  nearer 
the  voice  of  Red  Bird  singing  his  death  song  could  be  heard. 
The  military  was  drawn  out  in  line  to  receive  the  delegation 
and  a  dramatic  ceremony  ensued.  On  the  right  and  slightly 
advanced  was  the  band  of  musicians.  In  front  of  the  center, 
at  a  distance  of  a  few  paces,  stood  the  murderers,  Red  Bird  and 
WeKau;  on  their  right  and  left,  forming  a  semicircular  group, 
were  the  Winnebagoes,  who  had  accompanied  them.  All  eyes 
were  fixed  on  the  magnificent  figure  of  Red  Bird:  six  feet  in 
height,  erect,  and  perfectly  proportioned,  his  very  fingers 
"models  of  beauty";  on  his  face  the  most  noble  and  winning 
expression;  his  every  movement  imbued  with  grace  and  state- 
liness;  his  dress  of  barbaric  splendor,  consisting  of  a  suit  of 
white  deer  skin  appropriately  fringed  and  decorated,  and  over 
the  breast  and  back  a  fold  of  scarlet  cloth ;  no  wonder  he  seemed 
to  the  spectators,  even  of  the  hostile  race,  "a  prince  born  to 
command  and  worthy  to  be  obeyed." 

The  effect  of  Red  Bird's  presence  was  heightened  by  the 
contrast,  in  all  outward  respects,  presented  by  the  miserable 
WeKau.  "Meagre — cold — dirty  in  his  person  and  dress— 

"»  Thomas  L.  McKenney's  narrative,  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  V,  178  fi. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  319 

crooked  in  form — like  the  starved  wolf,  gaunt,  hungry,  and 
bloodthirsty,"  his  entire  appearance  accorded  with  the  con- 
ception of  a  fiend  who  could  scalp  a  babe  in  the  cradle. 

Red  Bird  stood  erect  without  moving  a  muscle  or  altering 
the  expression  on  his  face.  The  music  having  ceased  and  all 
being  seated  except  the  speakers,  the  latter  began  their  address. 
Its  substance  was  that  two  of  the  murderers  had  voluntarily 
surrendered  themselves  in  response  to  the  white  man's  demand; 
as  their  friends  they  had  come  in  with  them,  and  hoped  their 
white  brothers  would  agree  to  accept  the  horses  they  had  brought 
in  satisfaction  of  the  offense.  They  asked  kind  treatment  for 
their  friends,  and  urged  that  they  should  not  be  put  in  irons. 
The  spokesman  for  the  whites  replied  with  much  advice,  which 
was  doubtless  excellent  from  the  white  man's  point  of  view. 
They  were  told  that  the  prisoners  should  be  tried  by  the  same 
laws  as  the  white  man,  and  the  promise  was  given  that  for  the 
present  they  should  not  be  put  in  irons. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  harangue  Red  Bird  stood  up  facing 
Major  Whistler.  In  physique  and  bearing  the  latter — the  same 
magnificent  athlete  who  had  bested  the  champion  of  the  natives 
in  the  Fort  Dearborn  foot  race  a  score  of  years  before — was  a 
worthy  representative  of  his  race.  After  a  moment's  pause 
the  words,  "I  am  ready,"  came  from  the  lips  of  Red  Bird. 
Advancing  a  step  or  two  he  paused,  saying,  "I  do  not  wish  to 
be  put  in  irons.  Let  me  be  free.  I  have  given  away  my  life — it 
is  gone" — stooping  and  taking  some  dust  between  his  fingers 
and  thumb,  and  blowing  it  away — "like  that.  I  would  not 
take  it  back,  It  is  gone."  Throwing  his  hands  behind  him  to 
indicate  that  he  was  leaving  all  things  behind,  he  marched 
briskly  up  to  Major  Whistler,  breast  to  breast.  A  platoon 
wheeled  backward  from  the  center  of  the  line  of  soldiery,  Whistler 
stepped  aside,  Red  Bird  and  WeKau  marched  through  the  line^ 
and  were  conducted  by  a  file  of  men  to  a  tent  prepared  for  them 
in  the  rear,  and  the  ceremony  was  concluded. 

The  fate  of  Red  Bird  may  quickly  be  told.  Together  with 
seven  others  of  his  tribe  who  had  surrendered  themselves  to  the 


320  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

whites  he  was  taken  to  Prairie  du  Chien  and  imprisoned  to 
await  trial  on  the  charge  of  murder.794  Their  imprisonment  was 
regarded  by  the  Indians  as  a  punishment  worse  than  death  itself. 
Red  Bird  bore  his  confinement  hardly  and  at  length  sickened 
and  died.  WeKau  and  another  of  his  associates  were  finally 
brought  to  trial,  in  September,  1828.  They  were  found  guilty 
and  sentenced  to  be  hung  on  December  26,  but  before  the  time 
set  for  the  execution  arrived  both  were  pardoned  by  President 
Adams.  The  other  prisoners  were  discharged  for  lack  of  evidence 
to  convict  them. 

Although  the  Winnebago  War  was  thus  easily  ended,  it  was 
not  without  important  consequences.  The  Indians  had  been 
cowed,  but  not  conciliated.  The  original  cause  for  their  dis- 
satisfaction had  not  been  removed;  the  aggressions  of  the  lead 
miners  continued,  and  the  specter  of  white  domination  still 
menaced  them  as  before  the  uprising.  The  confinement  and 
death  of  Red  Bird,  whom  they  believed  to  have  been  poisoned 
by  the  Americans,795  did  not  tend  to  alleviate  their  dissatisfaction, 
while  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  after  the  brief  summer  cam- 
paign of  1827  emboldened  them  again.  At  the  close  of  the 
year  1827  Joseph  Street,  the  Indian  agent  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 
reported  to  Governor  Edwards  of  Illinois  that  the  Winnebagoes 
were  greatly  dissatisfied,  and  would,  in  his  opinion,  resist  the 
execution  of  Red  Bird  if  they  could  induce  any  other  tribe  to 
join  them.796  The  following  spring  news  was  carried  to  the 
British  post  at  Drummond's  Island,  to  which  place  many  of  the 
American  Indians  resorted  annually  for  presents,  that  several 
of  the  northwestern  tribes  were  planning  an  uprising  against 
the  Americans.797 

To  restrain  the  dissatisfied  tribes  between  Lake  Michigan 
and  the  Mississippi  by  the  presence  of  an  adequate  military 

'»<  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  366-68;  VIII,  264-65;  Smith,  History  of 
Wisconsin,  I,  250-51. 

i"  Speech  of  Nayocantay  at  Drummond's  Island,  June  30,  1828,  Michigan  Pioneer 
Collections,  XXIII,  146. 

'*  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI,  366-68. 

797  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  XXIII,  144-51. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  321 

force,  it  was  determined  permanently  to  regarrison  Fort  Craw- 
ford and  Fort  Dearborn,  and  in  addition  to  establish  a  new  post 
at  the  Wisconsin  Portage.798  To  the  latter  was  given  the  name 
of  Fort  Winnebago,  and  its  garrison  muster-rolls  during  the 
next  few  years  contain  the  names  of  many  men  who  later  won 
national  fame  and  reputation.799  Our  primary  interest,  however, 
is  centered  in  Chicago.  On  October  3,  1828,-  after  an  interval 
of  five  years,  Fort  Dearborn  was  reoccupied  by  a  regular  garrison 
of  about  sixty  men,  comprising  companies  A  and  I  of  the  Fifth 
Infantry,  under  command  of  Major  John  Fowle.800  The  Fifth 
Regiment  had  been  stationed  at  Jefferson  Barracks  prior  to  the 
Winnebago  outbreak.  In  connection  with  the  general  shifting 
of  troops  and  the  re-establishment  of  garrisons  occasioned  by 
that  trouble,  to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made,  the 
garrisons  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Mackinac,  and  Fort  Howard, 
consisting  of  detachments  of  the  Second  Infantry,  were  moved 
down  the  lakes  to  Fort  Gratiot  and  Fort  Niagara,  while  the 
Fifth  Regiment  relieved  the  Second  in  garrisoning  the  places 
named  and  in  addition  sent  two  companies  to  reoccupy  Fort 
Dearborn.801  The  latter  probably  came  up  the  Illinois  River 
route.  The  remaining  eight  companies  moved  up  from  St. 
Louis  by  way  of  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox  Rivers,  with  the  expecta- 
tion that  the  march  of  so  large  a  body  of  soldiery  through  the 
heart  of  their  territory  would  produce  a  quieting  effect  upon  the 
minds  of  the  Winnebago  and  other  tribes.802 

For  two  and  one-half  years  companies  A  and  I  of  the  Fifth 
Infantry  continued  to  garrison  Fort  Dearborn.  Major  Fowle 
remained  in  command  until  December,  1830,  when  he  was 
granted  six  months'  leave  of  absence  and  Lieutenant  Hunter 

'»«  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIV,  70-71. 

«» Among  others  may  be  mentioned  Jefferson  Davis,  David  E.  Twiggs,  William  J. 
Worth,  E.  V.  Summer,  and  E.  Kirby  Smith.  See  on  this  the  "History  of  Fort  Winnebago " 
in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIV,  75  ff. 

»»« Drennan  Papers,  Fort  Dearborn  post  returns,  October,  1828. 

toi  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIV,  70;  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  27. 

»"  On  the  movement  of  the  troops  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XIV,  70; 
Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  27;  statement  of  General  Hunter  in  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiq- 
uities, 490. 


322  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

succeeded  to  the  command.  He  later  became  prominent  in  his 
profession  and  during  the  Civil  War  rose  to  the  rank  of  major- 
general.  At  this  time  he  was  a  West  Point  graduate  of  eight 
years'  standing,  who  since  his  arrival  at  Fort  Dearborn  in  the 
autumn  of  1829  had  wooed  and  married  Maria  Indiana,  the 
daughter  of  John  Kinzie.  Captain  Martin  Scott,  another 
member  of  the  little  group  of  officers  in  this  period,  was  noted 
for  his  eccentricities.803  He  was  famous  for  his  skill  as  a  marks- 
man and  passionately  fond  of  hunting.  Probably  because  of 
this  trait,  he  maintained  a  numerous  array  of  dogs.  Both 
Scott  and  Hunter  had  been  stationed  at  Fort  Snelling,  where 
each  acquired  a  reputation  for  firmness,  not  to  say  obstinacy, 
in  adhering  to  views  which  had  once  been  formed.  Upon  one 
occasion  they  determined  to  find  out  by  actual  experiment 
which  could  abstain  the  longer  from  eating.  At  the  end  of  two 
days  Scott  surrendered  unconditionally;  it  was  the  general 
opinion  of  the  garrison  that  Hunter  would  have  perished  rather 
than  yield. 

Notwithstanding  the  scare  which  had  caused  the  regarrisoning 
of  Fort  Dearborn,  the  months  passed  into  years  without  any 
occasion  for  the  actual  services  of  the  soldiers  arising.  In  the 
spring  of  1831  the  fort  was  again  abandoned,  the  garrison  being 
ordered  to  Green  Bay.804  Less  than  a  year  later,  however, 
Major  Whistler,  who  had  seen  the  first  Fort  Dearborn  built  in 
1803,  was  ordered  from  Fort  Niagara  to  Chicago  with  two 
companies  of  the  Second  Infantry.805  He  arrived  on  June  17, 
1832,  and  for  the  third  time  since  its  rebuilding,  less  than  a  score 
of  years  before,  Fort  Dearborn  housed  a  garrison.  The  order 
for  its  reoccupation  was  issued  in  February,  but  before  Whistler's 
force  arrived  the  Black  Hawk  War  had  begun  and  Chicago  and 
Fort  Dearborn  were  crowded  with  panic-stricken  settlers.  The 
disaffected  Sac  leader,  Black  Hawk,  on  April  6,  at  the  head 

'•»  For  an  intimate  characterization  of  Captain  Scott  see  Van  Cleve,  Three  Score 
Years  and  Ten,  chap.  iii. 

»•<  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  30.  An  account  of  the  breaking-up  of  the  garrison  is 
given  by  Mrs.  Kinzie  in  Wau  Bun,  chaps,  xxiii  and  xxiv. 

••»  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  30. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  323 

of  five  hundred  warriors  and  their  squaws  and  children,  had 
crossed  the  Mississippi  River  and  begun  the  invasion  of  the 
state  of  Illinois.  Therewith  began  for  Illinois  her  last  Indian 
war,  and  for  Chicago  and  Fort  Dearborn  a  period  of  excite- 
ment and  activity  on  a  greater  scale  than  the  place  had  ever 
known. 

The  Black  Hawk  War  constitutes  one  of  the  saddest  chapters 
in  all  the  long  story  of  the  spoliation  of  the  red  race  at  the  hands 
of  the  white.  Notable  for  the  number  of  men  of  national  promi- 
nence in  American  history  who  participated  in  it,  it  is  no  less 
notable  for  the  blundering  and  unworthy  course  pursued  by  the 
whites,  first  in  bringing  it  on  and  second  in  waging  it  to  a  con- 
clusion. The  names  of  two  Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  Zachary  Taylor;  of  the  only  President  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  Jefferson  Davis;  of  a  presidential 
candidate,  and  for  a  full  generation  the  most  notable  soldier  in 
America,  Winfield  Scott;  of  senators  and  governors  and  generals 
in  profusion — A.  C.  Dodge,  Henry  Dodge,  John  Reynolds, 
George  W.  Jones,  Sidney  Breese,  Henry  Atkinson,  Albert  Sydney 
Johnston,  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  David  E.  Twiggs,  S.  P.  Heintzel- 
man,  John  A.  McClernand,  E.  D.  Baker,  William  S.  Harney, 
and  Robert  Anderson,  among  others — furnish  ample  evidence 
that  no  other  Indian  war  in  American  history  was  participated 
in  by  so  many  notable  men.806 

The  history  of  the  war  may  be  found  in  many  places,  and  the 
design  of  the  present  narrative  is  limited  to  a  recital  of  it  from 
the  point  of  view  of  its  bearing  upon  Chicago  and  the  results 
for  Chicago's  development  which  proceeded  from  it.8°7  Black 
Hawk  had  planned  his  return  to  Illinois  under  the  belief  that  the 
Winnebagoes,  Pottawatomies,  and  other  tribes  and  even  the 

•««  This  list  of  participants  is  drawn  from  the  Drennan  Papers,  Fort  Dearborn  post 
returns,  and  Stevens,  Black  Hawk  War,  passim. 

••»  Many  contemporary  narratives  are  printed  in  the  volumes  of  the  Wisconsin  His- 
torical Collections;  for  the  most  part  they  should  be  used  with  discrimination.  For  a  sane 
and  useful  brief  account  of  the  war  see  Thwaites,  "Story  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,"  in  Wis- 
consin Historical  Collections,  XII,  217-65.  Stevens,  Black  Hawk  War,  is  a  detailed  and 
valuable  narrative.  In  using  it  due  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  author's  too  evident 
anti-Indian  bias 


324  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

British  would  ally  with  him  against  the  Americans.808  Before 
the  actual  crossing  he  was  partly  disabused  of  this  idea,  but  only 
in  part.  His  immediate  purpose  was  to  raise  a  crop  of  corn  on 
Rock  River,  with  the  Winnebagoes  of  that  locality,  and  prepare 
for  active  warfare  in  the  fall.  This  design  was  frustrated  by  the 
action  of  the  whites.  Governor  Reynolds  promptly  called  out 
the  Illinois  militia,  and  early  in  May  four  regiments,  numbering 
sixteen  hundred  men,  accompanied  by  Governor  Reynolds  him- 
self, were  at  Fort  Armstrong,  ready  to  co-operate  with  the  small 
force  of  regulars  under  Atkinson  in  the  pursuit  and  overthrow 
of  Black  Hawk's  band.809 

Meanwhile  Black  Hawk  had  learned  in  a  council  with  the 
Pottawatomies  that  while  Big  Foot  and  some  others  were  hot 
for  war,  the  bands  of  Shabbona  and  Wabansia  were  determined 
to  remain  at  peace  with  the  whites.  The  news  of  Black  Hawk's 
incursion  spread  rapidly  among  the  scattered  settlements,  carry- 
ing in  its  train  confusion  and  panic.  Many  of  the  settlers 
abandoned  their  homes  and  fled  for  protection  to  the  larger 
settlements;  some  left  the  country  never  to  return;  others 
gathered  for  mutual  protection  within  rude  stockade  forts,  which 
were  hastily  improvised.  On  May  14  an  advance  division  of  the 
pursuing  army  under  Major  Stillman  encountered  Black  Hawk 
and  a  small  number  of  his  warriors,  and  in  the  engagement  that 
ensued  the  whites  sustained  a  disgraceful  defeat.810  The  raw 
Illinois  militiamen,  filled  with  zeal  for  the  killing  of  Indians, 
rushed  headlong  into  the  contest,  regardless  of  the  efforts  of 
their  officers  to  restrain  them.  Although  they  outnumbered  the 
Indians  in  the  proportion  of  eight  or  ten  to  one,8"  their  flight, 
upon  receiving  the  first  fire  of  the  latter,  was  no  less  precipitate. 
For  all  but  a  handful,  who  fell  fighting  bravely  to  cover  the 
retreat,  the  flight  continued  to  Dixon's  Ferry,  twenty-five  miles 

••«  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XII,  227,  231. 

••'Ibid.,  XII,  232-34- 

•"  On  the  battle  of  Stillman's  Run  see  ibid.,  XII,  236-39;  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  chap,  xix 

•"  Stillman's  force  numbered  three  hundred  and  forty-one  men;  Black  Hawk  stated 
that  he  had  forty  followers,  and  Reynolds  credited  him  with  not  to  exceed  fifty  or  sixty 
(Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XII,  235,  237). 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  325 

away,  and  many  did  not  pause  even  here,  but  pressed  madly  on 
to  their  homes. 

In  comparison  with  the  panic  which  ensued  upon  the  news 
of  Stillman's  overthrow,  the  earlier  panic  of  the  settlers,  from 
which  they  had  already  recovered  in  a  measure,  seemed  trivial.8" 
The  terror  excited  by  the  exaggerated  stories  of  the  militia  spread 
consternation,  not  only  throughout  the  frontier  immediately 
affected,  but  eastward  into  Indiana  and  southern  Michigan.813 
Rumor  multiplied  many  fold  the  number  of  Black  Hawk's 
followers.  From  Dixon's  Ferry,  on  the  day  after  the  defeat 
of  Stillman,  Governor  Reynolds  "by  the  light  of  a  solitary 
candle"  penned  a  call  for  two  thousand  more  volunteers.814 
Shabbona  and  his  friends,  at  the  risk  of  their  own  lives,  set 
forth  to  warn  the  settlers  of  their  danger.815  Most  of  them  fled 
to  cover.  At  Chicago,  where  the  citizens  had  organized  a 
militia  company  early  in  May,  the  whole  surrounding  popula- 
tion gathered  within  Fort  Dearborn,  with  two  hundred  armed 
men  on  guard.  Yet  in  the  terror  of  the  first  panic  an  appeal  was 
dispatched  to  the  acting  governor  of  Michigan  for  assistance.816 

Of  the  scenes  of  wild  confusion  and  fear  which  attended  the 
flight  of  the  settlers  to  Chicago  and  other  points,  and  the  hard- 
ships endured  at  Chicago,  a  graphic  description  has  been  left 
by  one  of  the  participants,  Rev.  Stephen  R.  Beggs.817  He  had 
recently  settled  at  Plainfield,  Illinois,  when  "the  inhabitants 
came  flying  from  Fox  River,  through  great  fear  of  their  much 
dreaded  enemy.  They  came  with  their  cattle  and  horses,  some 

8"  Ibid.,  XII,  238-40;   Beggs,  Early  History  of  the  West  and  Northwest,  97  B. 

*<>  For  a  semi-humorous  account  of  the  panic  in  southwestern  Michigan  see  Henry 
Little,  "A  History  of  the  Black  Hawk  War  in  1832,"  in  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  V, 
152  ff.  On  the  scare  in  Indiana  see,  e.g.,  [Banta]  History  of  Johnson  County,  Indiana, 

I26ff. 

«•«  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  139. 

••s  Ibid.,  148;  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XII,  39;  Matson,  Memories  of  Skau- 
bena,  114  ff. 

816  The  muster-roll  of  the  Chicago  company  is  printed  in  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago, 
64-65.  For  the  appeal  to  the  acting  governor  of  Michigan  for  assistance  see  letter  of 
Thomas  Owen,  Indian  agent  at  Chicago,  May  21,  1832,  printed  in  the  New  York  Mercury, 
June  6,  1832. 

«"  Beggs,  op.  cit.,  97  ff. 


326  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

bareheaded  and  others  barefooted,  crying,  'The  Indians!  The 
Indians!'"  Those  of  the  adjoining  settlements  who  were  able 
fled  with  all  speed  for  Danville,  only  a  few  of  the  men  remaining 
behind  to  look  after  their  property  as  best  they  might.  Some 
friendly  Indians  shortly  came  to  allay  their  fears,  but  believing 
them  to  be  hostile,  without  allowing  them  an  opportunity  to 
explain,  the  settlers  mounted  horses  and  fled  after  those  who  had 
gone  before.  The  Indians  pursued,  seeking  vainly  to  correct 
the  mistake,  but  this  served  only  to  increase  the  terror  of  the 
whites. 

The  residents  of  Plainfield  at  first  determined  to  defend 
themselves.  The  house  of  Beggs  was  turned  into  a  fort,  the 
outbuildings  being  torn  down  to  furnish  logs  for  the  construction 
of  a  breastwork.  Here  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  people,  old 
and  young,  assembled.  Ammunition  was  scarce,  however,  and 
they  had  but  four  guns  among  them.  As  the  next  best  means 
of  defense  a  supply  of  axes,  hoes,  forks,  and  clubs  was  requisi- 
tioned. A  few  days  later  the  Chicago  militia  to  the  number  of 
twenty-five,  hearing  of  their  plight,  came,  accompanied  by  an 
equal  number  of  friendly  Indians,  to  the  rescue.  The  next  day 
militia  and  Indians  in  separate  companies  set  forth  to  recon- 
noiter  along  the  Fox.  At  nightfall  one  of  the  whites  and  a  few 
of  the  Indians  returned,  bringing  "fearful  stories"  of  having 
been  captured  by  the  Indians,  and  the  warning  that  Fort  Beggs 
would  be  attacked  that  night  or  the  next  at  the  latest. 

This  information  precipitated  a  fresh  panic.  "The  stoutest 
hearts  failed  them,  and  strong  men  turned  pale,  while  women 
and  children  wept  and  fainted,  till  it  hardly  seemed  possible  to 
restore  them  to  life,  and  almost  cruel  for  them  to  return  from 
their  quiet  unconsciousness  to  a  sense  of  their  danger."  Imme- 
diate flight,  either  to  Ottawa  or  Chicago,  was  debated,  but  after 
discussion  was  dismissed  as  impracticable,  and  the  resolution 
was  reached  to  remain  in  the  fort  and  sell  their  lives  as  dearly 
as  possible.  Two  days  passed  with  occasional  alarms,  when 
every  man  was  ordered  to  his  post  to  prepare  to  meet  an  attack. 
Instead  of  the  enemy,  however,  the  Chicago  militia  appeared. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  327 

The  joy  of  the  inmates  of  Fort  Beggs  was  tempered  by  the  news 
they  brought  of  the  terrible  Indian  Creek  massacre  a  dozen 
miles  north  of  Ottawa.818  The  Chicagoans  advised  the  imme- 
diate abandonment  of  Fort  Beggs  and  retirement  either  to 
Ottawa  or  Chicago.  The  latter  destination  was  decided  upon, 
and  the  ensuing  night  was  spent  in  busy  preparation  for  the 
march.  Early  the  next  morning  the  company  set  out.  escorted 
by  the  Chicago  militia,  and  by  sunset  had  completed  the  forty- 
mile  journey  to  Chicago  and  safety. 

Although  Chicago  afforded  the  fugitives  a  safe  refuge,  there 
was  for  them  no  cessation  of  hardship.  The  place  was  crowded 
to  overflowing.  Beggs  and  his  wife  were  compelled  to  take  up 
their  abode  in  a  room  fifteen  feet  square,  already  occupied  by 
several  other  families.  The  plight  of  the  inmates  under  such 
conditions  may  easily  be  imagined.  One  afternoon  in  the  midst 
of  a  violent  thunderstorm  a  stroke  of  lightning  broke  open  the 
end  of  their  room  and  passed  down  the  wall  to  the  room  beneath, 
leaving  a  charred  seam  within  a  few  inches  of  a  keg  of  gunpowder. 
The  next  morning  Mrs.  Beggs  gave  birth  to  a  child.  If  the 
chronicler's  statistics  are  accurate,  fifteen  infants  were  born 
during  their  stay  at  the  fort. 

Whatever  apprehensions  of  danger  the  refugees  at  Chicago 
were  still  under  must  have  been  materially  relieved  by  the 
arrival  on  June  12  of  a  force  of  Michigan  militia  under  General 
J.  R.  Williams.  Assembled  at  Detroit  and  other  points  in  the 
latter  part  of  May,  they  had  finally  pushed  forward,  after 
numerous  vicissitudes  arising  from  incompetent  leadership,  to 
Chicago,  where  they  assumed  for  a  short  time  the  responsibility 
of  the  defense  of  Fort  Dearborn.819  This  service  was  terminated 
by  the  arrival  successively,  on  June  17,  of  the  two  companies 
of  regulars  under  Major  Whistler  from  Fort  Niagara,  and  five 
days  later  of  a  regiment  of  three  hundred  mounted  militia  from 

"« This  occurred  on  Tuesday,  May  20,  1832.  Beggs  states  (op.  cit.,  101)  that  the 
Chicagoans  brought  the  news  of  it  to  Plainfield  on  Wednesday  evening.  For  an  account 
of  the  massacre  and  the  narrative  of  the  captivity  of  the  Hall  girls,  the  only  prisoners  taken, 
see  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  146  ff . 

•'»  On  the  movements  of  the  Michigan  militia  see  Stevens,  op.  cit..,  chap,  xxxvii. 


328  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Indiana.  The  Michigan  troops  were  thereupon  ordered  to 
embark  on  board  the  "Napoleon"  for  transportation  across  the 
lake  to  St.  Joseph,  whence  they  were  to  be  marched  to  Niles  and 
mustered  out  of  the  service.  Many  of  the  settlers  who  had  taken 
refuge  at  Fort  Dearborn  shortly  began  to  depart,  some  of  them 
under  armed  escort,  for  their  homes.820  Meanwhile  from  the 
seat  of  government  at  Washington  the  military  had  been  set  in 
motion  for  the  scene  of  war,  and  Chicago  became  the  appointed 
rendezvous  for  a  larger  body  of  soldiery  than  had  ever  yet  been 
gathered  here.  From  Fortress  Monroe,  Fort  McHenry,  Fort 
Columbus,  Fort  Niagara,  Fort  Gratiot,  Fort  Brady,  and  other 
places  infantry  and  artillery  to  the  number  of  one  thousand  men 
were  started  for  Chicago,  and  General  Winfield  Scott  was  ordered 
from  the  seaboard  to  take  charge  of  the  operations  against  Black 
Hawk.821  Three  weeks  after  the  arrival  of  Major  Whistler's 
detachment  General  Scott  arrived.  With  him,  too,  came  a 
peril  before  which  the  menace  of  the  hostile  Indians  paled  into 
insignificance.  Instead  of  peace  and  tranquillity,  the  settlers 
were  plunged  anew  into  panic  by  the  appearance  in  their  midst 
of  the  dreaded  Asiatic  cholera. 

From  Europe  where  it  had  prevailed  for  many  weeks  the 
cholera  crossed  the  ocean,  making  its  first  appearance  in  America 
at  Quebec  in  the  early  part  of  June.822  From  here  it  quickly 
passed  up  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Montreal  and  then  southward  to 
Albany.  The  legislature  of  New  York  met  in  special  session, 
June  21,  to  devise  measures  for  preventing  the  spread  of  the 
disease,  but  less  than  two  weeks  later  it  reached  New  York  City, 
and  by  July  4  eleven  deaths  from  it  had  occurred  there.  The 
next  day  was  observed  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  by  many 
of  the  churches  of  the  city  but  the  plague  rapidly  increased  in 
virulence  and  in  the  two  weeks  ending  July  28  over  fourteen 
hundred  deaths  occurred.  By  the  end  of  August  the  disease 

'"  Beggs,  op.  cit.,  104. 

««  Drennan  Papers,  copies  of  orders  to  the  various  detachments,  and  post  returns  of 
the  troops  sent  to  Chicago;  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XII,  241. 

'"New  York  Mercury,  June  20,  1832,  November  21,  1832,  et  passim. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  329 

had  practically  spent  its  force  in  New  York,  but  meanwhile  the 
pestilential  wave  was  passing  southward  and  westward  over  the 
country.  By  late  autumn  it  was  estimated  that  one  thousand 
deaths  from  cholera  had  occurred  at  Philadelphia  and  an  equal 
number  at  Baltimore,  and  at  New  Orleans  over  a  hundred 
persons  a  day  were  dying  from  cholera  and  yellow  fever  combined, 
a  rate  which,  if  continued,  would  depopulate  the  city  in  a  year's 
time.823 

During  the  latter  part  of  June  the  various  detachments 
of  regulars  from  the  Atlantic  Coast  were  proceeding  toward 
Chicago.824  At  Buffalo  the  troops  embarked  on  board  the 
steamers,  "Henry  Clay,"  "Superior,"  "William  Penn,"  and 
"  Sheldon  Thompson."825  While  passing  up  the  lakes  the  cholera 
made  its  appearance  among  the  soldiers.  More  potent  than  the 
hostile  red  man,  it  disrupted  the  expedition.826  Two  of  the 
vessels  got  no  farther  than  Fort  Gratiot,  where  the  virulence  of 
the  pestilence  compelled  the  soldiers  to  land.827  The  others 
continued,  after  a  period  of  delay,  to  Chicago,  where  the  troops 
were  compelled  to  halt  until  the  pestilence  had  spent  its  force 
and  the  survivors  were  again  fit  for  the  field. 

The  ravages  among  the  men  of  the  detachment  of  Colonel 
Twiggs  which  was  landed  at  Fort  Gratiot  were  so  awful  as  to 
banish  discipline  to  the  winds.828  Those  of  the  command  who 

•«  Ibid.,  November  21,  1832. 

»M  Drennan  Papers,  Fort  Dearborn  post  returns.  Six  companies  of  artillery  from 
Fortress  Monroe  left  New  York  June  26,  and  on  June  30  were  at  Clyde  in  that  state.  Com- 
pany E,  Fourth  Artillery,  started  from  Fort  McHenry,  June  18.  The  route  followed  by 
the  seaboard  companies  was  by  way  of  New  York  City  to  Buffalo  and  thence  by  vessel 
around  the  lakes. 

»'*  Letter  of  Captain  A.  Walker,  October  30,  1860,  in  Chicago  Weekly  Democrat, 
March  23,  1861. 

116  For  an  account  of  Scott's  expedition  and  the  cholera  outbreak  see  Stevens,  op.  cit., 
chap,  xxxvi;  Scott's  own  narrative  is  given  in  his  Memoirs,  I,  chap,  xviii;  additional 
material  occurs  in  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  passim;  Niles'  Register,  Vols.  XLII  and 
XLIII,  passim;  the  New  York  Mercury  for  1832,  passim. 

'"Letter  of  Captain  A.  Walker  in  Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  March  23,  1861;  letter 
from  an  officer  on  the  Henry  Clay,  in  New  York  Mercury,  July  18,  1832. 

•»»  Letters  of  John  Nowell  in  Niles'  Register,  July  28,  1832;  of  Captain  A.  Walker  in 
Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  March  23,  1861;  letters  from  Detroit  (unsigned)  in  New  York 
Mercury,  July  18,  1832. 


33°  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

were  not  stricken  dispersed  in  every  direction.  Many,  stricken 
later,  died  in  the  woods  or  along  the  roadway,  the  terrified 
inhabitants  refusing  them  shelter  or  assistance.  According  to 
a  letter  from  an  officer  of  the  Second  Infantry,  dated  July  n, 
of  Twiggs'  three  hundred  and  seventy  men,  twenty  or  thirty  had 
died  and  about  two  hundred  had  deserted.829  From  another 
contemporary  newspaper  report  it  appears  that  the  detachment 
consisted  of  both  infantry  and  artillery,  and  that  the  great 
majority  of  desertions  occurred  in  the  former  branch  of  the 
service.830  Of  two  hundred  and  eight  recruits,  thirty  had  died 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  had  deserted;  while  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty- two  artillerymen,  twenty-six  had  died  and  but 
twenty  had  deserted. 

No  fatalities  occurred  on  the  "Sheldon  Thompson,"  the 
steamer  on  which  General  Scott  had  embarked,  until  Mackinac 
had  been  passed  and  Lake  Michigan  entered.  Before  setting 
out  for  the  Northwest  Scott,  anticipating  an  outbreak  of  the 
plague,  had  taken  lessons  from  Surgeon  Mower,  stationed  in 
New  York,  upon  its  character  and  treatment.831  On  Scott's 
particular  steamer  the  disease  broke  out  suddenly  and  with  fatal 
violence.  The  only  surgeon  on  board  became  panic-stricken, 
drank  a  bottle  of  wine,  and  went  to  bed  sick,  and,  to  quote  the 
commander's  grim  comment,  "ought  to  have  died."  In  this 
crisis  Scott  himself  turned  doctor,  applying  as  best  he  could  the 
medicine  and  treatment  suggested  by  Surgeon  Mower.  He  him- 
self states  that  his  principal  success  consisted  in  preventing  a 
general  panic.  From  beginning  to  end  of  the  cholera  visitation 
he  set  the  example  to  his  subordinates  of  exhibiting  no  sign  of 
fear  concerning  it,  visiting  and  personally  attending  to  the  wants 
of  the  afflicted.  In  comparison  with  this  exhibition  of  fearless- 
ness, the  courage  required  on  the  field  of  battle  seems  trivial.832 

•"New  York  Mercury,  July  18,  1832. 

'"  N ties'  Register,  August  n,  1832.  »»'  Scott,  Memoirs,  I,  218  ff. 

>>'  The  terror  of  the  troops  and  of  the  citizens  in  the  vicinity  of  Detroit  has  already 
been  noticed.  A  concrete  instance  of  the  dread  which  the  cholera  inspired  is  given  by 
Mrs.  Kinzie,  who  was  at  Green  Bay  when  the  news  of  the  approach  of  the  plague  reached 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  331 

Some  time  after  the  Mexican  War,  Scott  told  John  Wentworth 
that  he  had  often  been  in  the  midst  of  danger  and  suffering,  but 
"he  had  never  felt  his  entire  helplessness  and  need  of  Divine 
Providence  as  he  did  upon  the  lakes  in  the  midst  of  the  Asiatic 
Cholera.  Sentinels  were  of  no  use  in  warning  of  the  enemy's 
approach.  He  could  not  storm  his  works,  fortify  against  him, 
nor  cut  his  own  way  out,  nor  make  terms  of  capitulation.  There 
was  no  respect  for  a  flag  of  truce,  and  his  men  were  falling  upon 
all  sides  from  an  enemy  in  his  very  midst."833 

The  "Sheldon  Thompson"  reached  Chicago  on  the  afternoon 
of  July  io.834  Since  there  was  no  harbor,  and  the  bar  at  the 
mouth  made  it  impossible  for  the  vessel  to  enter  the  river,  the 
troops  must  be  landed  in  small  boats,  which  was  done  the  next 
day.  The  troops  under  Major  Whistler,  who  had  been  occupying 
Fort  Dearborn  since  June  17,  were  promptly  moved  out  and 
on  July  1 1  the  fort  was  converted  into  a  general  hospital  for  the 
use  of  Scott's  men.835  During  the  night  which  elapsed  between 
the  arrival  at  Chicago  and  the  landing  of  the  troops  the  following 
morning  three  more  of  the  company  died  and  their  bodies  were 
consigned  to  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  Years  afterward  the 
captain  of  the  steamer  recalled  that  their  forms  could  plainly 
be  seen  through  the  clear  water  from  the  deck,  exciting  such 
disagreeable  sensations  in  the  minds  of  the  beholders  that  it  was 
deemed  prudent  to  weigh  anchor  and  shift  the  vessel  a  sufficient 
distance  from  the  spot  to  shut  out  the  gruesome  sight.836 

For  several  days  the  pestilence  raged  at  Fort  Dearborn  with 
violence  similar  to  that  previously  manifested  at  Fort  Gratiot. 
The  official  medical  report  shows  that  two  hundred  cases  were 

that  place.  She  relates  (Wait  Bun,  340)  that  the  news  was  brought  to  her  by  a  relative, 
"an  officer  who  had  exhibited  the  most  distinguished  courage  in  the  battlefield,  and  also 
in  some  private  enterprises  demanding  unequalled  courage  and  daring."  When  he  had 
broken  the  news  he  "laid  his  head  against  the  window-sill  and  wept  like  a  child."  This 
effect  was  produced,  not  by  the  actual  presence  of  the  pestilence,  but  by  the  news  of  its 
ravages  at  Detroit  and  the  fear  of  its  advent  at  Green  Bay. 

«"  Wentworth,  Early  Chicago,  37. 

•j«  Scott  to  Governor  Reynolds,  July  15,  1832,  in  Niks'  Register,  August  n,  1832. 

»"  Drennan  Papers,  Fort  Dearborn  post  returns,  October,  1832. 

*i6  Letter  of  Captain  A.  Walker,  in  Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  March  23,  1861. 


332  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

admitted  to  the  hospital  in  the  course  of  six  or  seven  days,  fifty- 
eight  of  which  terminated  fatally.837  The  terror  which  the 
cholera  inspired  was  due  as  much,  apparently,  to  the  rapid 
progress  of  the  disease  as  to  the  high  percentage  of  mortality 
which  prevailed  among  its  victims.  The  first  soldier  who 
perished  on  the  "Henry  Clay"  was  stricken  in  the  evening  of 
July  5  and  died  seven  hours  later.*3*  On  Scott's  vessel,  the 
"Sheldon  Thompson,"  men  died  in  six  hours  after  being  in 
perfect  health.  Sergeant  Heyl  "was  well  at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning — he  was  at  the  bottom  of  Lake  Michigan  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon."*39  The  author  of  the  statement 
which  has  just  been  quoted  gives  a  graphic  description  of  his 
own  illness,  from  which  at  the  time  of  writing  he  was  in  process 
of  recovering.  He  was  serving  as  officer  of  the  day  when  the 
"Sheldon  Thompson"  arrived  at  Chicago,  and  superintended 
the  landing  of  the  sick  on  board  the  vessel.  "I  had  scarcely  got 
through  my  task,"  he  wrote  two  days  later,  "when  I  was  thrown 
down  on  the  deck  almost  as  suddenly  as  if  shot.  As  I  was  walk- 
ing on  the  lower  deck  I  felt  my  legs  growing  stiff  from  my  knees 
downward.  I  went  on  the  upper  deck  and  walked  violently  to 
keep  up  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  I  felt  suddenly  a  rush  of 
blood  from  my  feet  upwards,  and  as  it  rose  my  veins  grew  cold 

and  my  blood  curdled My  legs  and  hands  were  cramped 

with  violent  pain."*40 

Some  interest  attaches  to  the  methods  employed  by  physi- 
cians in  treating  the  disease,  especially  in  view  of  what  transpired 

*»  Hyde,  Early  Medical  Chicago,  i8-ig.  I  have  not  had  access  to  the  original  report 
on  which  this  statement  is  based.  Hyde  says  these  two  hundred  cases  occurred  among 
"the  Entire  force  of  one  thousand."  This  statement,  which  does  not  include  Whistler's 
two  companies,  is  evidently  erroneous.  The  entire  force  ordered  to  Chicago  numbered 
only  a  thousand  men,  and  several  hundred  of  these  had  already  been  dissipated  through 
death  and  desertion,  or  by  delaying  at  Fort  Gratiot  and  elsewhere.  I  have  not  learned 
the  number  of  men  at  Fort  Dearborn  at  this  time,  but  evidently  it  was  much  less  than  one 
thousand;  the  rate  of  sickness  and  mortality  was,  of  course,  correspondingly  greater. 

«j«  New  York  Mercury,  July  18,  1832. 

'"Letter  from  an  officer  of  Scott's  command,  dated  Fort  Dearborn,  July  12,  N ties' 
Register,  August  n,  1832. 

«« Ibid. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  333 

at  Chicago.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  on  both  sides  of  the 
ocean  the  medical  profession  was  helpless  to  stay  its  course. 
In  London  over  one-half  of  the  twenty-three  hundred  and 
eighty- two  cases  which  occurred  prior  to  April  12  terminated 
fatally.841  At  the  same  time  the  deaths  in  Paris  from  cholera 
numbered  several  hundred  daily.  It  was  everywhere  noted 
that  persons  addicted  to  intemperance  were  especially  prone 
to  fall  before  the  disease.  The  first  six  victims  among  the 
soldiers  on  the  "Henry  Clay"  were  all  intemperate  men.842 
The  surgeon  who  attended  Scott's  men  at  Fort  Dearborn  treated 
all  cases  with  calomel  and  blood-letting.  This  proved  so 
efficacious,  according  to  his  report,  that  he  regarded  the  disease 
as  "robbed  of  its  terrors."843  In  view  of  the  nature  of  the 
remedies  employed,  and  the  fact  that  fifty-eight  of  the  two 
hundred  cases  admitted  to  the  hospital  terminated  fatally,  in 
addition  to  the  deaths  which  occurred  on  board  the  steamer, 
the  grounds  for  his  satisfaction  are  not  entirely  clear.  But  few 
fatalities  occurred  among  the  men  of  Major  Whistler's  two 
companies,  who  had  been  removed  some  distance  from  the 
fort  and  were  attended  by  another  physician,  Doctor  Harmon.844 
Strangely  enough  he  attributed  his  success  to  the  fact  that  he 
did  not  employ  calomel  in  the  treatment  of  the  disease.  That 
some  of  the  soldiers  who  came  with  Scott  to  Chicago  were 
subjected  to  other  treatment  than  the  blood-letting  and  calomel 
described  in  the  surgeon's  report  seems  evident  from  the  state- 
ments of  the  officer  whose  sudden  seizure  on  board  the  "Sheldon 
Thompson"  has  been  described.  The  doctor  administered  eight 
grains  of  opium  to  him  and  made  him  rub  his  legs  as  fast  as  he 
could;  he  was  also  made  to  drink  a  tumbler  and  a  half  of  raw 
brandy.  At  the  time  of  writing  the  patient  described  himself 
as  "out  of  danger,"  but  whether  because  of  this  treatment 
would  be  hazardous  to  affirm. 

•«  New  York  Mercury,  May  23,  1832. 

««  Letter  from  Fort  Gratiot  dated  July  7,  1832;  ibid.,  July  18,  1832. 

'«  Hyde,  Early  Medical  Chicago,  19. 

>«  Ibid.,  14. 


334  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

The  spread  of  the  contagion  at  Chicago  was  checked  before 
the  end  of  July,  and  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  month  Scott 
set  out,  accompanied  by  a  few  officers,  along  the  Chicago- 
Galena  trail  for  the  seat  of  war,  leaving  orders  for  Lieutenant- 
colonel  Eustis  to  follow  him  with  all  of  the  troops  who  should 
be  able  to  move  by  the  third  of  August.  Scott  reached  Prairie 
du  Chien  and  assumed  command  of  the  army  on  August  7, 
only  to  find  that  the  war  had  been  brought  to  a  close.  The 
Illinois  militia  under  Henry  and  Dodge  and  the  regulars  under 
Atkinson  had  roused  Black  Hawk's  band  from  the  wilderness 
fastness  to  which  it  had  retired  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lake 
Koshkonong,  and  hotly  pursued  it  across  southern  Wisconsin, 
through  the  beautiful  Four-Lakes  country  where  the  capital  of 
the  state  has  since  been  located,  to  the  Mississippi  River  about 
forty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin.  Here  on  August  2 
in  the  battle  of  the  Bad  Axe,  which  shortly  degenerated  into  a 
massacre,  Black  Hawk's  band  was  practically  destroyed,  and  the 
war  concluded.  The  red  leader  himself,  seeing  the  end  at  hand, 
had  deserted  his  party  the  night  before  the  battle,  and  with  a 
few  followers  had  fled  eastward  to  the  Dalles  of  the  Wisconsin.845 
About  three  hundred  of  his  deserted  band  succeeded  in  escaping 
across  the  Mississippi,  either  before  or  during  the  affair  at  the 
Bad  Axe,  but  half  of  these  were  shortly  slaughtered  by  a  party 
of  one  hundred  Sioux,  whom  General  Atkinson  had  sent  after 
them.  Of  the  band  of  nearly  one  thousand  persons  who  had 
crossed  the  Mississippi  in  April  not  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  lived  to  tell  the  tragic  story  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  "a 
tale  fraught  with  dishonor  to  the  American  name."846 

General  Scott's  first  act  after  assuming  command  of  the  army 
was  to  order  the  discharge  of  the  volunteers.847  On  August  10 
he  started  down  the  Mississippi  by  steamer  to  Fort  Armstrong, 
intending  there  to  bring  the  war  to  a  formal  close  by  the  negotia- 
tion of  a  treaty  of  peace.  The  troops  from  Chicago,  who  were 

'"Thwaites,  "Story  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,"  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections, 
XII,  258. 

•''Ibid.,  XII,  261.  •«  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  247-48. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  335 

making  their  way,  meanwhile,  across  Illinois  to  the  seat  of  war 
in  obedience  to  Scott's  orders,  were  met  at  Dixon's  Ferry  by 
news  of  the  termination  of  the  war,  and  orders  to  change  their 
destination  to  Fort  Armstrong.  Here,  while  awaiting  the 
bringing-in  of  the  prisoners,  and  examining  those  brought  in 
to  determine  their  share  of  responsibility  for  the  war,  Scott 
was  once  more  confronted  by  the  enemy  that  had  wrought  such 
havoc  among  the  troops  in  the  journey  around  the  Lakes  and  at 
Chicago.  About  August  26  the  cholera  again  broke  out  among 
his  troops  with  all  the  virulence  of  a  first  attack.848  Four 
companies  of  United  States  Rangers  had  been  enlisted,  one 
from  Illinois,  two  from  Indiana,  and  one  from  Missouri.849  The 
Illinois  company,  while  proceeding  to  the  seat  of  war,  had  been, 
like  Eustis'  detachment  of  regulars  from  Chicago,  directed  to 
make  its  way  to  Rock  Island.  On  the  way  down  Rock  River 
from  Dixon's  Ferry,  the  soldiers  were  attacked  by  cholera; 
some  were  left  behind,  ill,  on  the  march,  and  others  died  after 
reaching  camp  near  Rock  Island.  Whether  or  not  it  was 
brought  by  these  troops,  the  disease  soon  made  its  appearance 
in  Rock  Island,  the  first  death  occurring  August  27.8s° 

The  outbreak  of  the  plague  halted,  for  the  time  being,  the 
progress  of  arrangements  for  the  treaty.  The  Indians  who  had 
not  yet  assembled  were  directed  to  remain  away  until  a  new 
summons  should  be  sent  them,  and  those  at  hand  were  permitted 
to  disperse.  In  this  connection  there  occurred  a  striking  exhibi- 
tion of  the  red  man's  devotion  to  his  code  of  honor.  Among  the 
prisoners  whose  cases  were  awaiting  disposition  were  three  Sacs 
who  were  accused  of  having  murdered  some  Menominees  in 
accordance  with  the  Indian  law  of  retaliation.  Scott  set  them 
at  liberty  to  seek  safety  in  the  prairies  from  the  pestilence,  having 
first  exacted  a  promise  that  in  response  to  a  prearranged  signal, 
to  be  hung  out  from  a  dead  tree  on  the  subsidence  of  the  pest, 
they  would  return  to  stand  their  trial.  The  cholera  having 

'«»  Scott,  Memoirs,  I,  221;   Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  X,  231. 

'«»  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  X,  231. 

««•  Scott's  Order  No.  :6,  August  8,  1832,  printed  in  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  248-49. 


336  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

passed  away  the  signal  was  displayed,  and  a  day  or  two  later 
the  murderers  presented  themselves.851  It  is  pleasing  to  be  able 
to  add  that  an  appeal  which  Scott  had  already  dispatched  to 
Washington  in  their  behalf  met  with  a  favorable  response  and 
that  it  was  not  necessary  to  take  the  lives  of  the  men  who 
esteemed  their  honor  so  highly. 

Scott's  measures  for  coping  with  the  cholera  at  Rock  Island 
were  no  less  energetic  and  courageous  than  those  he  had  already 
taken  in  dealing  with  the  earlier  outbreak  of  the  plague.  In  a 
characteristic  order  to  his  troops,  issued  the  day  after  the  first 
death  occurred,  he  recited  the  facts  of  the  situation  and  com- 
manded a  strict  observance  of  the  proper  sanitary  regulations.852 
He  stated  that  having  himself  seen  much  of  the  disease,  he  knew 
the  generating  cause  of  it  to  be  intemperance.  Every  soldier, 
therefore,  who  should  be  found  intoxicated  after  the  issuance 
of  this  order  would  be  compelled,  as  soon  as  his  strength  should 
permit,  to  dig  a  grave  large  enough  for  his  own  reception,  as 
such  grave  could  not  fail  soon  to  be  wanted  "for  the  drunken 
man  himself  or  some  drunken  companion."  This  order  was 
given,  it  was  added,  as  well  to  serve  for  the  punishment  of 
drunkenness  as  to  spare  good  and  temperate  men  the  labor  of 
digging  graves  for  their  worthless  companions. 

The  troops  were  camped  in  tents  in  close  order  exposed  for 
several  days  to  cold  rains.853  The  groans  and  screams  of  the 
afflicted,  audible  to  everyone,  added  to  the  horror  of  the  scene. 
In  the  face  of  this  situation  the  hearts  of  the  stoutest  quailed. 
Through  it  all  General  Scott  ministered  personally  to  the  wants 
of  the  afflicted,  officers  and  privates  alike,  freely  exposing  him- 
self to  disease  and  death  in  the  most  terrible  form,  and  by  his 
example  exciting  confidence  and  courage  in  all.854  The  ravages 
of  the  cholera  were  finally  checked  by  removing  the  troops  from 

«««  Stevens,  toe.  cit.,  Scott,  Memoirs,  I,  221-23. 
•»  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  248-49. 

•«  Captain  Henry  Smith's  narrative,  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  X,  165. 
The  author  was  himself  an  officer  in  General  Atkinson's  brigade  during  the  war. 

m Ibid.;  Scott,  Memoirs,  I,  230-32. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  337 

their  camp  on  Rock  Island  to  small  camps  on  the  bluffs  on  the 
Iowa  side  of  the  Mississippi. 8ss 

On  September  15  and  21,  1832,  treaties  were  concluded  by 
General  Scott  and  Governor  Reynolds,  acting  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States,  with  the  Winnebago  and  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians 
respectively,  which  formally  terminated  the  war.856  The  former 
were  compelled  to  cede  their  lands  in  southern  Wisconsin  to  the 
United  States,  and  accept  in  their  stead  a  new  home  west  of  the 
Mississippi  in  the  modern  state  of  Iowa;  the  latter  surrendered 
an  important  tract  of  their  territory  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  extending  northward  from  the  northern  boundary 
of  Missouri.  Thus  was  punishment  meted  out  by  the  victors — 
to  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  for  their  active  participation  in  the  war, 
to  the  Winnebagoes  for  the  sympathy  and  covert  assistance 
extended  by  them  to  the  former.  Black  Hawk,  the  leader  of 
the  forlorn  red  hope  in  this  disastrous  foray,  was  taken,  after 
several  months'  imprisonment,  upon  a  tour  of  the  East,  with 
the  design  of  imbuing  him  with  a  conviction  of  the  futility  of 
further  resistance  to  the  whites.  Upon  his  return,  shorn  of  all 
political  power,  he  was  permitted  to  live  out  the  remainder  of 
his  life  in  retirement,  the  quiet  and  peace  of  which  contrasted 
strangely  with  the  tempestuousness  of  his  active  career.  No 
better  defense  of  his  action  in  going  to  war  with  the  whites  can 
be  made  than  he  himself  offered  in  the  course  of  a  Fourth  of  July 
speech  shortly  before  his  death:  "Rock  River  was  a  beautiful 
country.  I  loved  my  towns,  my  cornfields,  and  the  home  of  my 
people.  I  fought  for  it."857 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  peace  the  troops  which  had  been 
gathered  at  Rock  Island  were  dispersed  in  various  directions. 
The  survivors  of  the  six  companies  of  artillery  which  had  left 
Fortress  Monroe  in  June  for  the  seat  of  war  returned  to  that 
place  in  November.  Their  return  route  from  Rock  Island  was 
down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Ohio  and  the  Kanawha  to 

•«  Flagler,  Rock  Island  Arsenal,  22;   Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  X,  166. 
•s«  Treaties  ....  from  1778  to  1837,  503  ff. 
•s'  Stevens,  op.  oil.,  271. 


338  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Charleston  and  thence  across  Virginia  to  the  final  destination.8*8 
On  September  23  six  companies  of  infantry  of  the  Second  and 
Fifth  Regiments  under  Lieutenant-colonel  Cummings  left  Rock 
Island  for  Chicago.859  Seven  days  later  the  detachment  was 
in  camp,  on  the  east  branch  of  the  "River  du  Pagan"  near 
Chicago.860  Evidently  the  "Du  Pagan"  was  the  modern  Du 
Page.  The  next  day  Major  Whistler's  two  companies  of  the 
Second  Infantry,  which  were  included  in  the  detachment,  moved 
into  Chicago  and  once  more  took  up  their  quarters  in  Fort  Dear- 
born. Two  days  later,  October  3,  Lieutenant-colonel  Cummings 
left  Chicago  for  Fort  Niagara  with  the  two  companies  of  the  Fifth 
Infantry  which  had  come  from  that  place  four  months  before  to 
take  part  in  the  war.  The  destination  of  the  remaining  com- 
panies of  the  detachment  which  had  marched  from  Rock  Island 
to  Chicago  is  not  in  evidence. 

Thus  the  Black  Hawk  War  passed  into  history.  It  remains 
to  speak  of  the  momentous  results  for  Chicago  and  the  country 
west  of  Lake  Michigan  which  accrued  from  it.  By  the  war  the 
beautiful  region  of  northern  Illinois  and  southern  Wisconsin  was 
first  fairly  made  known  to  the  whites.  "The  troops  acted  as 
explorers  of  a  large  tract  of  which  nothing  had  hitherto  been 
definitely  known  among  white  men."861  It  has  even  been  said 
that  portions  of  the  country  which  the  armies  traversed  had 
previously  been  as  little  known  to  the  Indians  themselves  "as 
the  interior  of  Africa  was  to  Stanley  when  he  first  groped  his 
way  across  the  Dark  Continent."  One  of  the  Illinois  militiamen 
wrote  of  the  Four-Lakes  country  that  if  these  lakes  were  any- 
where else  they  would  be  regarded  as  among  the  wonders  of  the 
world.862  On  the  shores  of  one  of  them  stands  today  the  capital 
of  Wisconsin,  and  on  the  very  spot  over  which  the  troops  of 

•*«  Niks'  Register,  November  17,  1832. 

•«»  Drennan  Papers,  Fort  Dearborn  post  returns  for  1832. 

"•Ibid. 

•••Thwaites,  "Story  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,"  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections, 
XII,  264. 

"« Wakefield,  quoted  in  ibid.,  XII,  252. 


WAR  AND  THE  PLAGUE  339 

Dodge  and  Henry  pressed  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  fleeing  red  men 
has  grown  up  one  of  America's  greatest  universities.  With  the 
close  of  the  war  the  East  was  flooded  with  books,  pamphlets, 
and  newspaper  articles  describing  the  newly  discovered  paradise. 
The  result  of  this  thorough  advertising  was  a  rush  of  immigrants 
to  take  possession  of  it.  No  other  point  in  all  the  West  profited 
by  this  as  did  Chicago.  Her  position  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan, on  the  great  highway  of  trade  and  travel  between  the  lakes 
and  the  Mississippi,  which  it  was  expected  the  construction  of 
the  canal  from  the  Chicago  River  to  the  Illinois,  long  under 
agitation,  would  shortly  open  up,  secured  to  her  commercial 
advantages  which  no  other  point  in  the  Northwest  could  rival. 
Chicago  became,  therefore,  the  great  entrepot  for  the  onrushing 
tide  of  immigrants.  In  turn  the  development  of  her  hinterland 
provided  the  substantial  basis  for  a  trade,  growing  ever  vaster, 
of  which  Chicago  constituted  the  natural  outlet  and  center. 
The  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  made  by  Schoolcraft  a  dozen 
years  before  that  Chicago  would  become  the  depot  for  the  inland 
commerce  between  the  northern  and  southern  sections  of  the 
Union,  and  "a  great  thoroughfare  for  strangers,  merchants,  and 
travellers,"  was  at  hand.  The  lethargy  of  a  century  and  a  half 
was  about  to  be  thrown  off,  in  the  birth  of  a  new  Chicago  whose 
name  was  to  become  the  synonym  for  energy,  enthusiasm,  and 
progress. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN 

The  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1783  which  closed  the  Revolutionary 
War  gave  the  new  nation  whose  birth  it  marked  the  Mississippi 
River  for  its  western  boundary,  and  a  line  through  the  middle  of 
the  Great  Lakes  and  extended  thence  to  the  Mississippi,  as  its 
boundary  on  the  north.  Until  Wayne's  victory  over  the  north- 
western tribes  in  the  battle  of  Fallen  Timbers,  in  August,  1794, 
however,  the  grip  of  the  red  man  upon  the  territory  north  of  the 
Ohio  River  was  practically  unbroken.  Certain  treaties  had  been 
made,  it  is  true,  carrying  cessions  of  land  to  the  whites  in  this 
region,863  but  their  validity  was  contested  by  powerful  tribes  and 
factions  among  the  Indians,  and  the  tide  of  white  settlement  was 
still  confined  to  the  country  closely  bordering  upon  the  Ohio 
River.  By  the  Treaty  of  Greenville,  a  year  after  his  victory  over 
the  Indians,  Wayne  secured  the  cession  by  them  to  the  United 
States  of  about  twenty-five  thousand  square  miles  of  land,  com- 
prising roughly  the  southern  half  of  the  present  state  of  Ohio 
together  with  a  long  and  narrow  strip  of  land  in  southwestern 
Indiana.864  At  the  same  time,  however,  the  Indian  ownership  of 
the  remainder  of  the  Northwest,  aside  from  certain  reservations 
which  were  specially  excepted,  was  conceded.  The  extinguish- 
ment of  the  Indian  title,  thus  formally  recognized,  to  the  soil  of 
the  Northwest  required  two  score  years  of  time  and  the  negotia- 
tion of  dozens  of  treaties.  Its  consummation  marked  the  passing 
of  the  red  man  from  the  imperial  domain  of  the  old  Northwest. 

From  the  beginning  of  his  term  as  governor  of  Indian  Terri- 
tory, Harrison  pursued  the  policy  of  procuring  by  treaties  of 
cession  the  Indian  lands.  This  policy  was  pressed  by  him,  and 
later  by  other  representatives  of  the  national  government  in  the 

•«»  See  supra,  pp.  109-10. 

•««  For  a  further  account  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty  see  pp.  124-25. 

340 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  341 

Northwest,  at  every  suitable  opportunity.  To  the  omnipresent 
land  hunger  of  the  whites  the  development  of  the  agitation  led  by 
Tecumseh,  and  his  brother,  the  Prophet,  was  primarily  due. 
The  treaties  negotiated  by  Harrison  at  Fort  Wayne  in  September, 
1809,  by  which  almost  three  million  acres  of  land  was  conveyed 
to  the  whites,  especially  angered  Tecumseh,  who  threatened  to 
put  to  death  the  chiefs  who  had  signed  them.865  His  purpose  to 
form  an  Indian  Confederacy  to  stay  the  farther  advances  of  the 
whites  and  the  alienation  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  Indians 
was  boldly  avowed  to  Harrison  at  Vincennes  in  August,  1810. 
He  viewed  the  policy  pursued  by  the  United  States  of  purchasing 
the  red  man's  lands  as  "a  mighty  water  ready  to  overflow  his 
people,"  and  the  confederacy  he  was  forming  among  the  tribes  to 
prevent  any  individual  tribe  from  selling  without  the  consent  of 
the  others  was  the  dam  he  was  erecting  to  resist  this  mighty 
water.866 

Tecumseh's  dam,  however,  proved  ineffectual  to  accomplish 
its  purpose.  As  well  might  he  seek  to  turn  back  the  waters  of 
the  Mississippi  as  to  stay  permanently  the  westward  tide  of  white 
settlement.  By  treaty  after  treaty  the  red  man's  birthright  was 
pared  away,  until  he  had  lost  possession  of  practically  all  of  the 
old  Northwest.  The  methods  pursued  in  the  negotiation  of  all 
these  treaties  were  similar.  They  will  be  sufficiently  illustrated 
in  the  account  of  the  two  Chicago  treaties  of  1821  and  1833. 

About  the  middle  of  the  year  1804  the  Sac  Indians  murdered 
three  Americans  who  had  settled  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri 
River.867  Governor  Harrison  journeyed  to  St.  Louis  to  demand 
from  the  representatives  of  the  tribe  to  which  the  murderers 
belonged  satisfaction  for  the  offense.  Advantage  was  taken  of 
the  situation  to  obtain  from  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  a  cession  of 
lands.  By  a  treaty  concluded  November  3,  1804,  in  return  for 
an  insignificant  consideration,868  the  two  tribes  ceded  over  fifty 

'*»  Supra,  p.  IQI. 

IM  Drake,  Tecumseh,  i  zg.  •«'  Dawson,  Harrison,  58  ff . 

•«•  Goods  to  the  value  of  $2234.50  were  given  to  the  Indians,  and  the  payment  of  an 
annuity  of  $1,000  was  promise^1 


342  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

million  acres  of  land  in  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin  to  the 
United  States.  The  portion  of  the  cession  east  of  the  Mississippi 
included  all  the  land  between  that  stream  and  the  Illinois  River 
and  its  tributary,  the  Fox,  extending  northward  to  a  line  drawn 
from  the  latter  stream  to  a  point  on  the  Wisconsin,  thirty-six 
miles  above  its  mouth.  But  this  magnificent  cession  was  ulti- 
mately to  cost  the  Americans  far  more  than  the  paltry  sum 
stipulated  in  the  treaty.  Black  Hawk  and  others  of  his  faction 
among  the  Sacs  protested  that  the  chiefs  who  made  the  cession 
had  acted  without  the  authorization  or  knowledge  of  their 
people,869  and  the  disputes  engendered  over  the  terms  of  the 
cession  furnished  the  principal  cause  of  the  Black  Hawk  War. 

In  August,  1816,  the  Indian  title  to  that  portion  of  the  Sac 
and  Fox  cession  lying  north  of  a  line  drawn  due  west  from  the 
southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan  was  revived.870  At  the 
same  time  the  United  States  secured  possession  of  a  strip  of  land 
lying  along  Lake  Michigan  ten  miles  north  and  ten  miles  south  of 
the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  and  extending  thence  in  a 
general  southwesterly  direction  to  the  Fox  and  Illinois  rivers,  so 
as  to  give  the  whites  control  of  the  route  by  the  Chicago  River 
and  Portage  to  the  Illinois.  Control  over  this  strip  of  land  was 
desired  to  facilitate  the  building  of  the  proposed  canal.  "Of  all 
the  Indian  treaties  ever  made,  this  will  be  remembered  when  all 
others,  with  their  obligations,  are  forgotten."871  The  sectional 
surveys  of  the  country  lying  on  either  side  of  the  zone  included 
in  this  cession  of  1816  were  made  at  different  times.  The  section 
lines  were  not  made  to  meet  each  other,  and  diagonal  offsets 
along  the  entire  length  of  the  Indian  grant  resulted.  So  long  as 
the  present  system  of  land  surveys  endures,  all  sectional  maps  of 
this  portion  of  Illinois  will  be  disfigured  by  the  triangular  fractions 
which  resulted  from  this  error  in  the  original  surveys. 

The  various  treaties  by  which  the  United  States  acquired  the 
Indian  title  to  the  land  of  the  Northwest  were  held  at  such  places 

••«  Black  Hawk,  Life,  27-28. 

•">  Treaty  of  August  24,  1816,  Treaties  ....  from  1778  to  1837,  197. 

«"  Blanchard,  The  Northwest  and  Chicago,  I,  491. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  343 

as  best  suited  the  convenience  of  the  parties  to  the  transaction. 
Two  notable  ones  were  concluded  at  Chicago,  the  first  in  1821,  the 
second  twelve  years  later.  Fortunately  for  the  historian  the 
scenes  attending  the  negotiation  of  each  of  these  treaties  have 
been  described  by  witnesses  possessed  of  unusual  narrative  skill. 

The  purpose  of  the  Treaty  of  1821  was  to  secure  from  the 
Pottawatomies  a  considerable  tract  of  land  in  southern  Michigan 
extending  from  Grand  River  southward  to  the  northern  boundary 
of  Indiana.  The  United  States  Commissioners,  Governor  Cass 
and  Solomon  Sibley,  accompanied  by  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft  as 
secretary,  left  Detroit  for  Chicago  July  3,  182 1.872  The  route 
from  Detroit  to  Chicago  usually  followed  at  this  time  was  the 
overland  trail,  which  necessitated  a  journey  of  about  three 
hundred  miles;  the  alternative  was  to  go  by  schooner  or  other 
vessel  around  the  lakes,  which  entailed  a  journey  twice  as  long. 
Cass's  party  pursued  neither  of  these  routes,  however.  Partly 
because  of  business  on  the  Wabash,  partly  from  a  desire  to  explore 
the  country,  it  was  decided  to  travel  in  a  large  canoe  by  way  of 
the  Maumee  and  the  Wabash  rivers  to  the  Ohio  and  thence  to 
and  up  the  Illinois  to  Chicago.873 

Several  weeks  later  the  party  was  at  Starved  Rock  on  the 
Illinois.  Here  the  canoe  was  abandoned  because  of  the  impossi- 
bility of  proceeding  farther  by  water  and  the  journey  was  con- 
tinued on  horseback.  The  last  few  miles  of  the  way  the  travelers 
were  almost  constantly  in  the  company  of  parties  of  Indians, 
dressed  in  their  best  attire  and  decorated  with  medals,  feathers, 
and  silver  bands;  all,  like  Cass's  party,  were  making  their  way 
to  Chicago  to  participate  in  the  negotiations  over  the  treaty.874 
The  gaudy  and  showy  dresses  of  the  Indians,  with  their  spirited 
manner  of  riding  and  the  jingling  caused  by  the  striking  of  their 
ornaments,  created  a  novel  and  interesting  scene.  Since  they 
were  converging  upon  Chicago  from  all  parts  of  an  extensive 
circle  of  country,  the  nearer  Cass  and  his  associates  approached 
the  more  compact  the  assemblage  became,  and  they  found  their 

«"  Schoolcraft,  Travels  in  the  Central  Portions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  15  ff. 
»T  Ibid.,  9.  •»  Ibid.,  335. 


344  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

cavalcade  augmented  and  the  dust,  confusion,  and  noise  increased 
at  every  bypath  which  intersected  their  way. 

In  all  three  thousand  Indians  gathered  at  Chicago  to  attend 
upon  the  work  of  treaty  making.  To  accommodate  this  assem- 
blage an  "open  bower"  had  been  erected  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river  under  the  guns  of  the  fort  to  serve  as  the  council  house.875 
At  the  first  formal  session  of  the  council,  which  occurred  on 
August  17,  Cass  set  forth  in  a  short  speech,  the  delivery  of  which 
was  punctuated  at  every  point  by  the  "hoah,"  indicative  of 
attention,  the  object  of  the  government  in  calling  the  red  men 
together.  Without  in  any  way  indicating  their  attitude,  the 
chiefs  adjourned  for  deliberation.  Two  days  later  they  were 
ready  with  their  answer,  which  was  delivered  by  the  Wabash 
chieftain,  Metea,  the  greatest  orator  of  the  Pottawatomies. 
With  a  mixture  of  boldness  and  humility  he  advanced  a  number 
of  reasons  for  aversion  on  the  part  of  the  red  men  for  making  the 
cession  desired,  and  concluded  with  a  flat  refusal  of  Cass's 
proffer.  Speech-making  in  profusion  followed,  interspersed  with 
frequent  adjournments,  in  the  course  of  which  day  after  day 
passed  away.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  Indians  there  was 
no  reason  for  hurry.  They  were  being  entertained  and  fed  at  the 
expense  of  the  government,  and  it  was  natural  that  they  should 
improve  the  opportunity  to  the  utmost.  Not  only  was  the 
occasion  an  enjoyable  one,  but  by  assuming  a  recalcitrant  atti- 
tude and  prolonging  the  council  a  better  bargain  might  be  driven. 

Some  misapprehensions  concerning  the  terms  of  a  former 
treaty  were  effectually  dispelled  by  the  commissioners,  the 
wavering  and  the  stubborn  were  won  over,  and  on  August  29  the 
treaty  was  concluded.876  The  Ottawa  tribe  was  to  receive  an 
annuity  of  one  thousand  dollars  forever,  while  the  Pottawato- 
mies were  to  be  paid  five  thousand  dollars  annually  for  twenty 
years.  On  behalf  of  the  Ottawas  the  government  agreed,  also, 
to  expend  fifteen  hundred  dollars  annually  for  ten  years  for  the 
support  of  a  blacksmith  and  a  teacher  and  the  promotion  of  the 

•«  Schoolcraft,  op.  cit.,  337  ff. 

»'«  For  it  see  Treaties  ....  from  1778  to  1837   297  ff. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  345 

arts  of  civilization.  In  similar  fashion  the  sum  of  one  thousand 
dollars  was  to  be  expended  annually  for  fifteen  years  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  teacher  and  a  blacksmith  among  the  Potta- 
watomies. 

The  foregoing  provisions  were  of  general  application.  The 
treaty  contained  in  addition  a  list  of  special  reservations  of  tracts 
of  land  which  were  granted  to  individuals,  usually  of  mixed 
descent.  The  story  of  the  influences  responsible  for  these 
provisions  of  the  treaty  afford  a  view  of  the  methods  by  which  the 
terms  of  such  cessions  in  the  Indian  treaties  of  this  period  were 
ordinarily  devised.  The  provisions  for  supporting  the  work  of 
instructing  and  civilizing  the  Indians  were  due  to  the  exertions  of 
Rev.  Isaac  McCoy,  the  founder  of  Carey's  Mission  among  the 
Pottawatomies,  near  the  modern  city  of  Niles.  Unable  himself 
to  come  to  Chicago,  he  sent  a  representative  to  urge  upon  both 
the  commissioners  for  the  United  States  and  the  Indians  the 
recognition  of  his  project  for  establishing  a  mission  among  the 
latter.877  Of  more  importance,  he  enlisted  the  support  of  Colonel 
William  A.  Trimble,  who  had  recently  resigned  his  office  in  the 
army  and  become  a  United  States  senator  from  Ohio.  On  his 
way  to  Chicago  to  attend  the  council  he  stopped  at  Carey's,  and 
having  listened  to  McCoy's  unfolding  of  his  plans  and  his  need  of 
aid  to  realize  them,  promised  to  exert  his  influence  in  the  mission- 
ary's behalf  at  Chicago.  Largely  because  of  this  championship, 
apparently,  the  provisions  already  recounted  for  the  support  of 
blacksmiths  and  teachers  among  the  tribes  involved  in  the 
cession  were  made.  Shortly  afterward  McCoy  received  the 
appointment  as  teacher  of  the  Pottawatomies,  and  his  associate, 
Mr.  John  Sears,  the  similar  appointment  among  the  Ottawas, 
while  the  selection  and  control  of  the  blacksmiths  was  also 
confided  to  McCoy.878 

"  To  bring  about  such  an  arrangement  as  this,"  wrote  McCoy, 
"had  cost  us  much  labor,  watchfulness,  and  anxiety.  Others,  in 
their  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  had  money  and  goods  with 

«"  McCoy,  History  of  Baptist  Indian  Missions,  113. 
•"  Cass  to  McCoy,  July  16,  1822,  ibid.,  145  ff- 


346  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

which  to  purchase  their  consent  to  measures  to  which  they  other- 
wise felt  disinclined;  but  we  had  neither  money  nor  consciences 
that  could  be  thus  used."879  The  significance  of  this  statement 
becomes  evident  upon  examination  of  the  list  of  special  reserva- 
tions provided  for  by  the  treaty.  The  traders  and  their  half- 
breed  families  and  their  descendants,  shrewder  and  more  influ- 
ential than  the  full-blooded  Indians,  provided  for  their  future 
welfare  by  procuring  the  reservation  to  themselves  of  generous 
tracts  of  land.  That  these  special  grants  of  land  were  obtained 
by  the  use  of  improper  methods  and  influences,  as  McCoy  has 
charged,  can  scarcely  be  doubted.880  One  of  the  witnesses  to  the 
treaty  was  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien,  the  Chicago  trader.  It  can 
hardly  be  deemed  a  mere  coincidence  that  among  the  grants  to 
individuals  are  included  one  half-section  of  land  to  each  of  his 
sons,  Charles  and  Madore,  by  his  Ottawa  squaw,  Mahnawbun- 
noquah,  who  had  by  this  time  been  dead  for  many  years.  To  the 
chieftain  Peeresh,  or  Pierre  Moran,  who  guided  Cass's  party 
from  Starved  Rock  to  Chicago,881  and  whose  racial  affiliations 
are  sufficiently  indicated  by  his  name,  was  granted  one  section 
of  land  at  the  mouth  of  the  Elkhart  River,  while  two  more 
sections  were  reserved  for  his  children.  "To  William  Knaggs,  or 
Waseskukson,  son  of  Chesqua,  one-half  of  a  section  of  land,"  reads 
another  clause  of  the  treaty.  Reference  to  the  list  of  witnesses 
who  signed  it  reveals  the  name  of  "W.  Knaggs,  Indian  Agent," 
and  this  individual  acted  as  interpreter  during  the  negotiation  of 

"•McCoy,  op.  cit.,  113-14. 

•••  The  policy  of  bribing  the  leaders  among  the  Indians  was  deliberately  adopted  by  the 
agents  of  the  government,  including  such  men  even  as  Lewis  Cass.  On  January  i,  1821, 
Alexander  Wolcott,  the  Chicago  agent,  thus  addressed  Cass  relative  to  the  contemplated 
Indian  treaty  and  the  expenses  of  his  agency  for  the  ensuing  year:  "To  induce  the  Pottawato- 
mies  to  sell  their  lands,  particularly  the  district  of  Saint  Joseph's  to  which  they  are  much 
attached  it  will  be  requisite  to  bribe  their  chief  men  by  very  considerable  presents  and 
promises;  and  that  should  be  done,  in  part  at  least,  before  the  period  of  treating  arrives,  so 

that  time  may  be  given  for  its  effects  to  spread  through  the  body  of  the  nation In 

short,  it  appears  to  me  that  a  small  portion  of  the  sum  appropriated  to  the  treaty  can  be 
disposed  of  in  the  best  and  most  efficient  manner  in  conciliating  and  securing  before  hand 
the  principal  men  of  the  nation"  (Indian  Department,  Cass  Correspondence,  Wolcott  to 
Cass,  Jan.  i,  1821).  Cass  in  reply  expressed  his  approval  of  the  proposal. 

181  Schoolcraft,  op.  cit.,  321. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  347 

the  treaty.882  Pierre  Le  Clerc,  or  Le  Claire,  the  half-breed  who 
had  assisted  in  negotiating  the  surrender  of  the  defeated  Fort 
Dearborn  garrison  in  August,  1812,  now  received  a  section  of 
land  on  the  Elkhart,  and  his  brother,  Jean  B.  Le  Clerc,  half  as 
much.  Another  participant  in  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  Jean 
Baptiste  Chandonnai,  whose  activities  as  a  trader  at  Chicago 
and  elsewhere  have  already  received  our  attention,883  was 
granted  two  sections  of  land. 

Among  the  most  highly  favored  recipients  of  special  grants 
by  this  treaty  were  the  traders  Burnett  and  Bertrand,  and  their 
families.  Burnett  had  married  KawKeemee,  the  sister  of  the 
Pottawatomie  chieftain,  Topinabee,  and  Bertrand  had  also 
married  a  squaw.  The  success  of  these  families  in  securing 
special  favors  for  themselves  from  the  Indians  and  the  govern- 
ment is  evidenced  by  the  recurrence  of  their  names  in  many 
treaties.  Both  Burnett  and  Bertrand  were  present  at  Chicago 
and  exerted  their  influence  in  support  of  the  commissioners  at  a 
critical  stage  in  the  negotiations.884  John  Burnett  received  by 
the  treaty  two  sections  of  land,  and  four  of  his  children  one 
section  each,  near  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  River.  To  the 
wife  of  Bertrand  was  given  one  section  of  land,  and  to  each  of  her 
five  children  one  half -section.  To  John  La  Lime,  son  of  Noke- 
noqua,  a  half-section  of  land  was  granted.  Presumably  he  was 
the  son  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  interpreter  slain  by  John  Kinzie  in 
1812.  The  latter  was  now  sub-Indian  agent,  and  assisting  in  the 
negotiation  of  the  treaty.  Whose  influence  was  responsible  for 
the  special  grant  to  young  La  Lime  can  only  be  conjectured. 

The  fatal  love  for  liquor  which  was  working  the  ruin  of  the 
Indians  was  significantly  manifested  during  the  course  of  the 
negotiations  over  this  treaty.  To  their  honor  the  commis- 
sioners determined  not  to  supply  the  Indians  with  liquor  until 
the  negotiations  should  be  concluded.  This  did  not  meet  the 
approval  of  the  latter,  however,  and  in  his  speech  of  August 
22  Metea  gave  expression  to  their  dissatisfaction.885  Cass 

•"  Ibid.,  365.  ••«  Schoolcraft,  op.  cit.,  352-53. 

"i  Supra,  p.  277.  "s  Ibid.,  350. 


348  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

answered  him  with  a  spirited  rebuke,  repelling  the  implication  of 
parsimony  and  showing  that  the  liquor  had  been  denied  the 
Indians  out  of  regard  for  their  own  welfare,  that  they  might  be 
able  to  keep  sober  and  protect  their  interests  in  the  negotiations. 
He  concluded  by  painting  the  baneful  influence  of  whisky  upon 
them,  and  appealing  to  them  to  wait,  if  they  were  determined  to 
drink,  until  a  proper  time.  The  rebuke  was  effective  in  quieting 
their  importunities  upon  the  subject  until  the  negotiations  were 
concluded  a  week  later.  Then  their  pent-up  thirst  for  the 
liquor,  which  they  had  stipulated  should  accompany  the  distri- 
bution of  goods,  overcame  their  power  of  self-control.  The  aged 
Topinabee  pleaded  with  Cass  for  the  "milk"  he  had  brought  for 
them,  but  was  told  that  the  goods  were  not  yet  ready  to  be  issued. 
"We  care  not  for  the  land,  the  money,  or  the  goods,"  he  rejoined; 
"it  is  the  whisky  we  want — give  us  the  whisky."  The  whisky 
was  shortly  provided,  and  within  twenty-four  hours  ten  shocking 
murders  had  been  committed.886 

The  inrush  of  white  settlers  which  followed  the  close  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War  made  necessary  the  early  removal  of  the 
Indians  from  northern  Illinois.  The  Pottawatomies  and  allied 
tribes  still  held  title  to  a  large  tract  of  land  between  Lake 
Michigan  and  Rock  River  and  extending  northward  from  the 
line  drawn  due  west  through  the  southernmost  point  of  Lake 
Michigan.  With  a  view  to  securing  the  cession  of  this  land  and 
the  removal  of  its  owners  to  some  point  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
the  last  and  greatest  Indian  council  ever  held  at  Chicago  was 
convened  in  September,  1833.  It  was  meet  that  every  warrior  of 
the  tribes  concerned  in  the  proposed  negotiation  should  attend 
the  grand  pow  wow,  bringing  his  squaws,  papooses,  ponies,  ard 
dogs  with  him,  and  accordingly  several  thousand  Indians 
assembled.887  From  far  and  near,  too,  gathered  "birds  of 

886  Schoolrcaft,  op.  cit.,  387-88;   McCoy,  op.  cit.,  116,  146-47. 

8"  Latrobe  (Rambler  in  North  America,  II,  201)  says  the  number  was  estimated  at  five 
thousand.  Shirreff  says  (Tour  through  North  America,  227)  "it  was  supposed  nearly  8,000 
Indians  were  assembled."  Porter  says  (Earliest  Religious  History  of  Chicago,  71)  that  on 
the  appointed  day  "Indians  began  to  pour  in  by  thousands."  All  three  writers  were  in 
Chicago  while  the  treaty  was  being  negotiated. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  349 

passage"  of  the  white  race,  representing  every  gradation  of 
character  from  rascality  to  respectability. 

The  Chicago  of  September,  1833,  was  "a  mush-room"  village 
of  a  few  score  houses.888  Most  of  them  had  been  hastily  erected 
since  the  preceding  spring  and  were  small  and  unsubstantial.889 
"Frame  and  clapboard  houses  were  springing  up  daily,"  wrote 
Latrobe,  the  English  traveler,  who  visited  Chicago  while  the 
council  was  in  progress,  "  under  the  active  axes  and  hammers  of 
the  speculators,  and  piles  of  lumber  announced  the  preparation 
for  yet  other  edifices  of  an  equally  light  character."890  The  one 
business  street  of  the  place  was  South  Water  Street,  along  which 
a  row  of  one-story  log  houses  sprawled  westward  from  the  reser- 
vation, its  monotony  only  slightly  broken  by  the  two  or  three 
frame  stores  which  the  village  at  this  time  boasted.891  The 
unwonted  concourse  of  visitors  in  attendance  upon  the  treaty 
taxed  the  accommodations  of  the  place  to  the  utmost.  There 
were  "traders  by  scores  and  hangers-on  by  hundreds."892 
According  to  one  observer,  a  stranger  to  America,  a  "general 
fair"  and  "a  kind  of  horse  market"  seemed  to  be  in  progress.893 
Large  wagons  drawn  by  six  or  eight  oxen  and  heavily  loaded  with 
merchandise  were  arriving  and  departing.  In  the  picturesque 
language  of  Latrobe  there  were  "emigrants  and  land  speculators 
numerous  as  the  sand,  horse  dealers  and  horse-stealers — rogues 
of  every  description,  white,  black,  brown,  and  red — half-breeds, 
quarter-breeds,  and  men  of  no  breed  at  all;  dealers  in  pigs, 
poultry,  and  potatoes;  men  pursuing  Indian  claims,  some  for 
tracts  of  land,  others  for  pigs  which  the  wolves  had  eaten; — 
creditors  of  the  tribes,  or  of  particular  Indians,  who  know  they 
have  no  chance  of  getting  their  money  if  they  do  not  get  it  from 
§le  government  agents;  sharpers  of  every  degree;  peddlers, 

"•  Shirreff  (op.  cit.,  226)  gives  the  number  of  houses  as  about  one  hundred  and  fifty. 
Latrobe  (op.  cit.,  II,  206)  speaks  of  "the  half  a  hundred  clapboard  houses." 

88'  Latrobe,  op.  cit.,  II,  209;  Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West,  I,  199,  202;  letter  of  Charles 
Butler  in  Andreas,  History  of  Chicago,  I,  129-30. 

•»•  Latrobe,  op.  cit.,  II,  209. 

»»•  Porter,  Earliest  Religious  History  of  Chicago,  70. 

•»>  Ibid.,  71.  '"  Shirreff,  op.  cit.,  228. 


350  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

grogsellers;  Indian  agents  and  Indian  traders  of  every  descrip- 
tion, and  Contractors  to  supply  the  Pottawatomies  with  food."894 

The  few  primitive  hotels  were,  of  course,  utterly  unable  to 
accommodate  comfortably  the  crowds  of  strangers  who  clamored 
for  board  and  lodging.  Latrobe  characterizes  his  hotel,  which 
was,  apparently,  the  Sauganash,  kept  by  Mark  Beaubien,  as  "a 
vile,  two-storied  barrack,"  within  which  "all  was  in  a  state  of 
most  appalling  confusion,  filth  and  racket."895  The  public  table 
was  such  a  scene  of  confusion  that  the  traveler  felt  compelled  to 
avoid  it.  The  French  landlord  was  "a  sporting  character"  and 
"everything  was  left  to  chance,  who  in  the  shape  of  a  fat  house- 
keeper, fumed  and  toiled  around  the  premises  from  morning 
to  night." 

The  character  of  the  impression  which  the  traveler  forms 
is  determined  as  much  by  his  standard  of  judgment  as  by  the 
conditions  he  actually  encounters.  Latrobe  was  a  cultivated 
English  gentleman,  habituated  to  another  manner  of  life  than 
that  which  prevailed  upon  the  American  frontier.  The  picture 
drawn  by  Shirreff,  himself  a  sturdy  farmer,  of  Chicago's  inns  in 
September,  1833,  is  perhaps  fairer  than  that  of  Latrobe;  yet  even 
when  measured  by  his  more  lenient  standards  the  conditions 
described  seem  crude  enough.8'6  His  hotel  was  so  disagreeably 
crowded  that  the  landlord  could  not  positively  promise  a  bed, 
although  he  would  do  his  best  to  accommodate  his  guests.  His 
house  was  "dirty  in  the  extreme,  and  confusion  reigned  through- 
out," but  the  traveler  temperately  observes  that  the  extraor- 
dinary circumstances  of  the  village  went  far  to  extenuate  this. 
The  table  was  amply  supplied  with  substantial  provisions, 
although  they  were  indifferently  cooked  and  served  "still  more 
so."  At  bedtime  the  guest  was  assigned  to  a  dirty  pallet  in  the 
corner  of  a  room  ten  feet  square  which  contained  two  small  beds 
already  occupied.  But  he  was  not  to  enjoy  even  this  poor  retreat 
without  molestation.  Toward  morning  he  was  aroused  from  a 
sound  sleep  by  "an  angry  voice  uttering  horrid  imprecations," 

'»<  Latrobe,  op.  cil.,  II,  206. 

»»s  Ibid.,  II,  209.  •*  Shirreff,  op.  cit.,  228-29. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  351 

accompanied  by  a  demand  to  share  the  bed.  The  lighted  candle 
in  the  hands  of  the  speaker  showed  that  the  intruders  were 
French  traders.  Shirreff  checked  their  torrent  of  profanity  with 
a  dignified  rebuke,  which  caused  them  to  withdraw  from  the 
room,  leaving  him  in  undisturbed  possession  of  the  bed. 

The  thousands  of  savages  congregated  to  barter  away  their 
birthright  presented  an  extraordinary  spectacle.897  Although 
several  different  tribes  were  represented,  their  dress  and  appear- 
ance depended  upon  individual  caprice  and  the  means  of  gratify- 
ing it.  rather  than  upon  tribal  customs  and  distinctions.  Those 
who  possessed  the  means  generally  attired  themselves  in  fantastic 
fashion  and  gaudy  colors.  As  a  rule  the  warriors  were  attired 
more  gaily  and  were  more  given  to  dandyism  than  were  the 
squaws.  All  of  the  men,  except  a  few  of  the  very  poorest,  wore 
breechclouts  and  blankets.  Most  of  them  added  to  these  articles 
leggings  of  various  colors  and  degrees  of  ornamentation;  while 
those  who  were  able  disported  themselves  in  loosely  flowing 
jackets,  rich  sashes,  and  gaudy  shawl  or  handkerchief  turbans. 
The  squaws  wore  blue  or  printed  cotton  cloths  and  the  richei 
ones  had  embroidered  petticoats  and  shawls.  The  various 
articles  of  clothing  of  both  men  and  women  were  covered  with 
gewgaws  of  silver  and  brass,  glass  beads,  and  mirrors,  such  as 
had  from  time  immemorial  been  supplied  to  the  Indians  by  the 
traders.  The  women  wore  ornaments  in  their  ears  and  occasion- 
ally in  their  noses,  while  the  faces  of  both  sexes  were  bedaubed 
with  paint,  blue,  black,  white,  and  vermilion,  applied  according 
to  more  or  less  fanciful  designs. 

On  every  hand  the  camps  of  the  natives  were  to  be  seen.  The 
woodlands  and  prairies  surrounding  the  village,  and  the  sand 
hills  along  the  lake  shore,  were  studded  with  their  wigwams, 
while  herds  of  ponies  browsed  in  all  directions.  Along  the  river 
were  many  groups  of  tents,  constructed  of  coarse  canvas, 
blankets,  and  mats,  surrounded  by  poles  supporting  meat, 
moccasins,  and  rags.  The  confined  area  within  was  often  covered 

"'  For  the  picture  that  follows  I  have  drawn  on  the  works  of  Latrobe,  Shirreff,  and 
Porter,  already  cited. 


352  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

with  half-rotten  mats  or  shavings,  over  which  men,  women, 
children,  and  baggage  sprawled  promiscuously. 

The  treaty-making  offered  to  the  red  man  an  opportunity  of 
indulging  in  an  extended  carousal.  Supplied  with  food  by  the 
commissioners  and  with  liquid  refreshment  by  the  traders,  for 
the  present  his  cup  of  contentment  overflowed.  Gossiping,  gam- 
bling, racing,  and  loafing  were  the  order  of  the  day.  "Far  and 
wide  the  grassy  Prairie  teemed  with  figures;  warriors,  mounted 
or  on  foot,  squaws,  and  horses.  Here  a  race  between  three  or 
four  Indian  ponies  each  carrying  a  double  rider,  whooping  and 
yelling  like  fiends.  There  a  solitary  horseman  with  a  long  spear, 
turbaned  like  an  Arab,  scouring  along  at  full  speed;  groups  of 
hobbled  horses;  Indian  dogs  and  children,  or  a  grave  conclave  of 
grey  chiefs  seated  on  the  grass  in  consultation."8'8 

Of  one  of  these  "grave  conclaves"  a  story  has  been  handed 
down  which  smacks  strongly  of  the  age  of  chivalry.8"  Two 
finely  built  young  men  who  were  the  best  of  friends,  the  sons  of 
two  chiefs,  Seebwasen  and  Sanguanauneebee,  were  courting  the 
same  young  squaw,  the  daughter  of  Wampum,  a  Chippewa  chief 
from  Sheboygan.  The  lovers  had  proposed  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion as  to  which  should  possess  the  girl  by  fighting  a  duel.  Their 
fathers  had  submitted  this  proposition  to  a  council  for  decision. 
The  result  of  the  weighty  deliberation  was  that  the  youths  should 
fight  to  the  death,  the  survivor  to  take  the  girl.  They  were 
brought  before  their  elders  and  informed  of  this  decision.  Their 
ponies  were  brought  forth,  their  manes  and  tails  were  decked 
with  ribbons,  and  the  saddles  and  the  duelists  themselves  with 
beads,  brooches,  and  other  ornaments.  After  the  ponies  had 
been  driven  once  or  twice  around  the  council  place,  the  duelists 
and  their  friends  set  out  for  the  place  of  encounter,  swimming 
their  horses  across  the  river,  and  drew  up  at  an  open  spot  on  the 
north  side.  Crude  flags  attached  to  poles  stuck  up  in  the  sand 
gave  notice  that  a  fight  to  the  death  was  impending,  while  guards 

'»'  Latrobe,  op.  cit.,  II,  210. 

«»» For  it  see  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XV,  460-63.  The  story  as  at  present 
preserved  was  told  to  the  secretary  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society  by  the  son  of  the 
Milwaukee  trader,  Jacques  Vieau,  who  attended  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  353 

were  placed  to  clear  a  ring  for  the  encounter.  Outside  the  ring, 
alone,  her  arms  akimbo  and  her  attitude  one  of  indifference, 
stood  the  girl  over  whom  the  duel  was  to  be  waged.  The  time 
was  an  hour  before  sundown,  and  four  or  five  hundred  spectators, 
Indians  and  white  men,  were  gathered  around. 

One  of  the  duelists  wheeled  to  the  right  and  the  other  to  the 
left.  Then  their  horses  were  brought  sideways  together,  head  to 
tail  and  tail  to  head.  As  the  signal  was  given  each  fighter  drew 
his  long-bladed  knife.  A  hubbub  arose  among  the  spectators  as 
they  clashed,  the  squaws  rending  the  air  with  their  cries.  Thrust 
followed  upon  thrust,  the  blood  spurting  forth  as  each  blow  was 
given.  The  bloody  work  could  not  continue  long,  of  course. 
Soon  Sanguanauneebee's  son  cried  out  in  his  death  agony  and 
toppled  over  backward,  his  arm  raised  for  a  blow,  his  opponent's 
knife  in  his  spine.  A  moment  later  Seebwasen's  son  fell  over 
and  died.  The  girl,  bereft  of  both  her  lovers,  at  last  manifested 
some  concern,  and  wrung  her  hands  in  frenzy.  The  assemblage 
dispersed  and  the  primitive  tragedy  was  ended. 

It  is  painfully  evident  from  a  study  of  the  treaty  and  of  the 
descriptions  of  the  scenes  attending  its  negotiation  which  have 
come  down  to  us,  that  the  public  sentiment  of  the  frontier  had 
become  demoralized  by  the  opportunities  for  dishonest  gain 
afforded  by  the  cession  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  red  man. 
Unscrupulous  individuals  were  never  lacking  to  take  advantage 
of  these  opportunities,  and  others,  who  under  a  proper  system  of 
administration  of  affairs  pertaining  to  the  Indians  would  have 
scorned  corrupt  practices,  permitted  their  honesty  to  be  under- 
mined by  the  influence  of  the  example  of  their  fellows  in  the  mad 
scramble  for  plunder.  The  Treaty  of  1833  afforded  the  last,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  greatest,  opportunity  at  Chicago  for  indi- 
viduals to  enrich  themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  Indians  or  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States.  Since  both  the  red  man 
and  the  government  submitted  meekly  to  the  process,  a  carnival 
of  greed  and  graft  ensued. 

A  set  of  temporary  plank  huts  had  been  erected  on  the  north 
side  of  the  river  for  the  accommodation  of  the  commissioners  and 


354  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

their  dependents,  and  a  "spacious  open  shed"  had  been  con- 
structed, also  on  the  north  side,  to  serve  as  the  council  house.900 
The  commissioners  were  Governor  George  B.  Porter  of  Michigan, 
Thomas  J.  V.  Owen,  Indian  agent  at  Chicago,  and  William 
Weatherford.  About  the  middle  of  September  they  assembled 
the  chiefs  in  a  preliminary  council  and  Governor  Porter  explained 
the  purpose  of  the  assembly,  urging  upon  them  the  wisdom  of 
acceding  to  the  government's  wishes.  The  chiefs  received  the 
proposal  without  enthusiasm,  disclaiming  any  desire  to  part  with 
their  lands.  The  request  that  they  return  a  prompt  answer  to 
the  government  was  negatived  with  equal  decision.  The  next 
day  they  indulged  in  a  "begging  dance"  through  the  streets  of 
the  town.  Half  a  hundred  painted  Indians  on  horseback 
followed  some  thirty  naked  savages  on  foot,  as  they  danced, 
whooped,  and  shouted  from  the  fort  down  South  Water  Street, 
stopping  before  each  door  to  receive  whisky,  tobacco,  or  bread. 
To  the  pioneer  minister  of  the  gospel  who  reports  the  scene  they 
appeared  like  the  very  incarnation  of  evil.  Several  days  passed. 
In  vain  the  signal  gun  from  the  fort  boomed  out  its  daily  notice 
of  the  assemblage  of  the  council,  for  the  chiefs  would  not  assemble. 
At  length,  on  the  afternoon  of  September  21  they  were  induced  to 
come  together.  The  council  fire  was  kindled  and  the  commis- 
sioners and  interpreters  gathered  at  one  end  of  the  chamber, 
while  twenty  or  thirty  chieftains  occupied  the  other.  The  rela- 
tive positions  of  the  groups  of  white  and  red  men  representing 
the  two  races  seemed  to  typify  their  relation  to  each  other: 
"The  glorious  light  of  the  setting  sun  streaming  in  under  the  low 
roof  of  the  council-house,  fell  full  on  the  countenances  of  the 
former  as  they  faced  the  West — while  the  pale  light  of  the  East 
hardly  lighted  up  the  dark  and  painted  lineaments  of  the  poor 
Indians  whose  souls  evidently  clave  to  their  birth-right  in  that 
quarter."901 

For  a  few  days  longer  the  Indians  refused  the  proffered 
terms.    At  length,  urged  by  the  agents  and  traders,  the  chiefs  one 

»••  For  the  further  account  of  the  negotiations  I  have  drawn  upon  the  works  of  Latrobe, 
Shirreff,  and  Porter,  as  before;  chiefly,  however,  upon  Latrobe. 
»"  Latrobe,  op.  cit.,  II,  214. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  355 

after  another  submitted  to  the  inevitable,  until,  on  September 
26,  the  treaty  was  concluded.  The  real  significance  of  the 
submission  cannot  be  better  stated  than  in  the  words  of 
the  talented  Latrobe,  who  was  a  keen-sighted  spectator  of  the 
proceedings.  "The  business  of  arranging  the  terms  of  an  Indian 
Treaty,"  he  observed,  "lies  chiefly  between  the  various  traders, 
agents,  creditors,  and  half-breeds  of  the  tribes,  on  whom  custom 
and  necessity  have  made  the  degraded  chiefs  dependant,  and  the 
Government  Agents.  When  the  former  have  seen  matters  so  far 
arranged  that  their  self-interest,  and  various  schemes  and  claims 
are  likely  to  be  fulfilled  and  allowed  to  their  heart's  content — the 
silent  acquiescence  of  the  Indian  follows  of  course;  and  till  this 
is  the  case  the  Treaty  can  never  be  amicably  effected."902 

The  treaty903  provided  that  the  Pottawatomies  and  allied 
tribes  should  cede  their  lands  to  the  west  of  Lake  Michigan  and 
their  remaining  reservation  in  southwestern  Michigan,  supposed 
to  contain  about  five  million  acres,  to  the  United  States,  and 
within  three  years'  time  remove  beyond  the  Mississippi  River. 
In  return  they  were  to  receive  five  million  acres  of  land  in  the 
West  for  their  new  home;  the  United  States  was  to  transport 
them  thither  and  pay  the  cost  of  their  support  for  one  year  after 
their  arrival;  and  the  expenditure  in  their  behalf  of  sums  of 
money  aggregating  almost  a  million  dollars  was  agreed  upon. 
These  provisions  were  regarded  as  very  liberal  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States.904  In  comparison  with  similar  treaties  of  the  time 
this  view  was  doubtless  justified;  but  an  examination  of  the 
disposition  of  the  money  which  the  United  States  was  to  pay 
confirms  Latrobe's  account  of  the  influence  by  which  the  terms 
of  the  treaty  were  shaped.  Except  for  a  few  minor  bequests  the 
entire  sum  appropriated  was  devoted  to  six  principal  purposes 

»••  Ibid.,  II,  215.  An  editorial  in  the  first  number  of  the  first  newspaper  published  iu 
Chicago,  commenting  on  the  difficulties  encountered  by  the  commissioners  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  negotiations,  says:  "The  various  and  clashing  interests  of  the  Traders  were 
powerfully  operating,  and  altogether  seeme  d,  for  some  days,  to  render  doubtful  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  great  and  vastly  important  object"  (Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  November 
26,  1833). 

»»>  For  it  see  U.S.  Statutes  at  Large,  VII,  431  ff. 

»«<  Porter,  op.  cit.,  72. 


356  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

which  fall  naturally  into  two  groups  of  three  each.  The  sum  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  devoted  to  the 
payment  for  twenty  years  of  an  annuity  of  sixteen  thousand 
dollars.  For  the  erection  of  mills,  blacksmith  shops,  and  houses, 
the  employment  of  physicians,  blacksmiths,  and  mechanics,  and 
the  promotion  of  civilization  generally,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  were  set  aside;  while  the  sum  of  seventy 
thousand  dollars  was  devoted  to  educational  purposes  and  the 
encouragement  of  the  domestic  arts. 

This  group  of  provisions,  which  were  calculated  to  redound 
to  the  advantage  of  the  red  man,  requires  no  discussion.  The 
second  group,  from  which  he  derived  little  or  no  advantage,  calls 
for  extended  consideration.  It  was  agreed  that  goods  and  pro- 
visions to  the  value  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  should  be  distributed  to  the  Indians,  one  portion  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  negotiations,  the  residue  during  the  ensuing 
year.  The  sum  of  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars  was 
devoted  to  the  satisfaction  of  "  sundry  individuals  in  behalf  of 
whom  reservations  were  asked,  which  the  Commissioners  refused 
to  grant."  A  list  of  the  persons  thus  favored,  together  with  the 
amount  granted  to  each,  was  appended  to  the  treaty  as  Schedule 
A.  Finally,  provision  was  made  for  the  payment  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  to  various  individuals  to  satisfy 
claims  made  by  them  against  the  tribes  concerned  in  the  treaty, 
"  which  they  have  admitted  to  be  justly  due."  The  list  of 
claimants  with  the  amount  allowed  in  each  case  constituted 
Schedule  B  of  the  treaty. 

It  was  in  connection  with  the  contents  of  Schedules  A  and  B 
that  the  most  striking  display  of  greed  and  dishonesty  occurred. 
Judged  by  the  standards  of  the  time,  some  of  the  requests  for 
reservations  were  doubtless  proper;  measured  by  the  same 
standards,  too,  some  of  the  claims  advanced  were  probably  valid; 
yet  there  is  no  room  to  doubt  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  grants 
to  individuals  under  these  two  heads  were  improperly  made.  "  It 
was  an  apportionment,"  remarks  Andreas  of  the  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  granted  under  Schedule  B,  "of 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  357 

the  ready  money  of  the  tribes  among  all  the  whites  who  could 
bring  a  claim  against  an  Indian.  The  honest  debtor  and  the 
unjust  and  dishonest  claimant  absorbed  the  fund.  How  large  a 
portion  of  it  represented  robbery,  theft,  and  perjury  will  never  be 
known  until  the  great  book  is  opened  at  the  last  day."905 

Doubtless  this  is  true,  yet  the  impropriety  of  many  of  the 
claims  allowed  is  patent  even  today.  The  story  of  " Snipe"  and 
his  claim  for  pay  for  hogs  which  the  wolves  had  eaten  is  probably 
fairly  typical  of  the  groundlessness  of  most  of  these  claims. 
"Snipe,"  whose  real  name,  unfortunately,  has  not  been  recorded, 
was  a  farmer  from  the  St.  Joseph  country,  who  came  to  Chicago  in 
the  same  stage  which  brought  Latrobe  and  Shirreff ,  to  prosecute 
a  claim  against  the  Indians,  which  on  his  own  statement  of  the 
case  was  improper.906  He  had  intended  to  make  a  great  deal  of 
pork  that  season,  but  upon  collecting  his  hogs  from  the  woods, 
where  they  had  run  for  five  months,  he  could  number  only 
thirty-five  instead  of  fifty-five.  The  Indians  had  been  hunting 
hogs,  he  stated,  and  he  expected  the  government  agents  to  allow 
his  claim  for  the  twenty  which  were  missing. 

Due  provision  was,  of  course,  made  for  the  influential  chiefs, 
who  were  frequently  half-breeds,  and  either  themselves  engaged 
in  the  Indian  trade  or  the  descendants  of  traders.  To  Billy 
Caldwell  and  Alexander  Robinson  life  annuities  of  four  hun- 
dred and  three  hundred  dollars  respectively  were  granted.  In 
addition,  each  was  to  be  given  ten  thousand  dollars,  although 
before  payment  this  sum  was  cut  in  half  in  each  case.  Besides 
these  provisions  Caldwell's  children  were  granted  six  hundred 
dollars,  and  the  children  of  Robinson  four  hundred.  Pokagon, 
the  St.  Joseph  River  chieftain,  received  two  thousand  dollars. 
The  families  of  Burnett  and  Bertrand,  the  St.  Joseph  traders, 
were  well  provided  for.  The  various  members  of  the  latter 
family  alone  received  grants  aggregating  thirty-nine  hundred 
dollars.  Jean  Baptiste  Chandonnai  received  one  thousand 
dollars  under  schedule  A,  and  two  thousand  five  hundred  under 

»•»  Andreas,  History  of  Chicago,  I,  126-27. 

»»'  For  the  story  of  "Snipe"  see  Latrobe,  op.  cit.,  II,  188-89;   Shirreff,  op.  cit.,  220. 


358  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Schedule  B.  Joseph  La  Framboise,  a  Chicago  half-breed  who 
ranked  as  chief,  was  the  recipient  of  numerous  favors.  By  the 
Chicago  Treaty  of  1821  he  had  been  granted  a  section  of  land. 
Now,  aside  from  a  life  annuity  of  two  hundred  dollars,  he 
received  one  grant  of  three  thousand  dollars  and  he  and  his 
children  another  of  one  thousand.  Numerous  other  bequests 
were  made  to  individuals  bearing  the  name  of  La  Framboise, 
whose  precise  relation  to  Chief  Joseph  it  does  not  seem  worth 
while  to  attempt  to  determine. 

Another  pioneer  Chicagoan  whose  Indian  affiliations  now 
proved  valuable  to  him  was  Antoine  Ouilmette.  By  the  Treaty 
of  Prairie  du  Chien  of  July,  1829,  he  had  been  given  eight 
hundred  dollars  for  losses  sustained  at  the  time  of  the  Chicago 
massacre,  and  by  the  same  treaty  his  wife  and  children  were 
granted  two  sections  of  land  a  few  miles  north  of  Chicago.907 
Now  he  again  received  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  dollars. 
Whether  this  was  in  payment  of  the  same  damages  already 
recompensed  by  the  Treaty  of  Prairie  du  Chien  is  not  recorded, 
but  in  view  of  the  identity  of  the  sums  involved,  and  the  way  in 
which  the  claims  of  others  against  the  Indians  which  had  long 
since  been  settled  were  repaid  at  this  treaty,  the  supposition  that 
such  was  the  case  does  not  seem  at  all  improbable.  To  one 
daughter,  Mrs.  Mann,  was  given  one  thousand  dollars  and  to 
another,  Mrs.  Welch,  two  hundred  dollars;  a  third  daughter, 
Josette,  also  received  two  hundred  dollars,  although  this  was 
probably  at  the  instigation  of  John  H.  Kinzie.  Finally,  still 
another  allowance  of  two  hundred  dollars  was  made  to  Ouil- 
mette's  "children." 

Since  the  identity  of  "Snipe"  is  unknown,  it  is  not  possible  to 
say  whether  his  effort  to  secure  compensation  for  his  hogs  "which 
the  wolves  had  eaten"  was  successful.  That  a  large  number  of 
traders  and  other  persons  were  influential  enough  to  gain  more 
than  generous  recognition  at  the  hands  of  the  commissioners, 
however,  is  quite  apparent  from  a  study  of  Schedules  A  and  B. 
Thus  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien  obtained  recognition  on  more  than 

»•'  U.S.  Statutes  at  Large,  VII,  321,  604. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  359 

one  count.  His  sons,  Madore  and  Charles,  were  granted  three 
hundred  dollars  each  under  Schedule  A.  His  wife,  Josette, 
received  five  hundred  dollars  under  the  same  schedule,  and  her 
children,  of  whom,  presumably,  he  was  the  father,  received  one 
thousand  dollars.  In  addition  to  these  grants,  both  Madore  and 
his  father  received  sums  of  money  in  payment  of  claims  against 
the  Indians. 

But  few  of  the  traders  who  shared  in  the  distribution  of  the 
public  funds  can  receive  individual  mention.  The  disappoint- 
ment of  James  Kinzie  over  the  denial  of  his  request  for  a  reserva- 
tion might  be  supposed  to  have  been  measurably  assuaged  by  the 
five  thousand  dollars  granted  him  in  lieu  thereof.  Since  Kinzie 
was  of  pure  American  descent,  it  is  difficult  to  justify  this  grant 
on  any  ground  of  recognized  propriety.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  aspiration  of  Robert  A.  Forsyth  for  a  reservation,  which  he 
was  forced  to  forego  for  the  more  paltry  donation  of  three  thou- 
sand dollars.  A  claim  which  he  preferred  for  the  same  amount 
under  Schedule  B  was  allowed,  however,  as  well  as  another 
claim  for  thirteen  hundred  dollars,  and  in  addition  to  all  this  he 
was  made  trustee  of  grants  to  various  individuals  amounting  to 
many  hundred  dollars  more. 

It  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a  mere  coincidence  that  the 
names  of  many  of  those  who  signed  the  treaty  as  witnesses  on 
behalf  of  the  United  States  should  be  enrolled  in  the  list  of 
beneficiaries  under  it.  Thus,  of  those  already  mentioned,  Robert 
Forsyth,  James  Kinzie,  and  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien  were 
witnesses  of  the  treaty.  William  Ewing  was  secretary  of  the 
commission,  and  to  him  and  G.  W.  Ewing  a  claim  of  five  thousand 
dollars  was  allowed.  Luther  Rice  and  James  Connor  acted  as 
interpreters.  Rice  received  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 
under  Schedule  A,  while  various  sums  were  granted  to  individuals 
bearing  the  name  of  Rice,  whose  relation  to  the  interpreter  there 
is  now  no  means  of  determining.  Connor  was  allowed  a  claim  of 
twenty- two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars;  and  in  conjunction  with 
another  man  of  the  same  name  received  seven  hundred  dollars 
under  Schedule  A.  Thomas  Forsyth  witnessed  the  treaty  and 


360  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

was  allowed  payment  of  a  claim  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  "  J. 
C.  Schwarz  Adj.M.M."  likewise  witnessed  the  treaty,  and  "John 
C.  Schwarz,"  who  was  doubtless  the  same  person,  received  forty- 
eight  hundred  dollars  by  it.  In  like  manner  "Laurie  Marsh" 
signed  the  treaty  and  a  claim  of  "Lowrian  Marsh"  for  thirty- two 
hundred  and  ninety  dollars  was  recognized  by  it.  George  Hunt, 
another  witness,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade  at 
Chicago  a  short  time  before,  was  given  nine  hundred  dollars  in 
satisfaction  of  a  claim  and  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  lieu 
of  a  reservation  which  he  had  requested.  B.  B.  Kercheval,  still 
another  signer  of  the  treaty,  secured  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 
Gholson  Kercheval,  who  was  the  sub-Indian  agent  at  Chicago, 
was  one  of  the  few  witnesses,  aside  from  the  commissioners  and 
the  officers  of  the  garrison,  who  received  nothing  from  it.  A 
year  later,  however,  October  i,  1834,  by  an  amendatory  treaty 
signed  at  Chicago  by  a  small  number  of  chiefs  he  was  granted  two 
thousand  dollars  for  services  rendered  the  Indians  in  the  Black 
Hawk  War."08 

It  is,  of  course,  conceivable  that  this  payment  was  a  proper 
one,  even  though  the  propriety  of  requiring  the  friendly  Potta- 
watomies  to  pay  for  the  services  of  the  captain  of  the  Chicago 
militia  company  in  the  Black  Hawk  War  is  not  at  this  late  day 
apparent.  The  largest  single  beneficiary  by  the  treaty  under 
Schedule  B  was  the  American  Fur  Company.  Robert  Stuart 
had  come  on  from  Mackinac  to  attend  the  negotiations  and  look 
out  for  the  interests  of  his  company  in  connection  therewith.909 
Of  the  success  of  his  mission  some  indication  is  afforded  by  the 
fact  that  over  one-tenth  of  the  total  sum  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  awarded  to  individuals  in  payment 
of  claims  against  the  Indians  went  to  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany.910 In  addition  to  this,  of  the  sum  allotted  to  Jean  Baptiste 

»••  U.  S.  Statutes  at  large,  VII,  447. 

»•»  Stuart  was  among  those  who  signed  the  treaty.  For  his  attendance  upon  it  see 
Porter,  op.  cit.,  72;  also  Porter  (Mary),  Eliza  Chappell  Porter,  100. 

»"  Robert  Stuart,  as  agent  of  the  company,  received  seventeen  thousand  dollars,  and 
James  Abbott,  also  on  behalf  of  the  company,  twenty-three  hundred  dollars. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  361 

Chandonnai  under  Schedule  A,  one  thousand  dollars  were,  by  his 
"particular  request,"  to  be  paid  to  Robert  Stuart,  agent  of  the 
American  Fur  Company.  While  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade  at 
Chicago  fourteen  years  before,  Chandonnai  had  received  goods 
from  the  American  Fur  Company  on  credit,  for  which  he  after- 
ward refused  to  pay.  A  part  of  the  debt  thus  repudiated  had 
been  secured  through  Kinzie's  influence.  Apparently  advan- 
tage was  now  taken  of  the  opportunity  presented  by  the  cession 
of  the  Pottawatomie  lands  to  secure  payment  of  the  remainder, 
ostensibly  from  the  Indians  but  in  reality  from  the  government. 
The  impropriety  of  requiring  either  party  to  pay  the  debts  of 
Chandonnai  is  self-evident.  Notwithstanding  his  "particular 
request,"  Chandonnai  evidently  could  not  be  trusted  himself  to 
pay  the  debt,  with  the  money  of  the  government  given  into  his 
possession,  and  so  it  was  arranged  it  should  pass  directly  from  the 
agent  of  the  United  States  to  the  American  Fur  Company. 

The  dubious  character  of  the  claims  presented  and  allowed  at 
this  treaty  is  still  further  exemplified  by  the  r61e  played  in  it  by 
the  heirs  of  John  Kinzie,  Both  of  his  sons,  John  H.  and  Robert 
A.  Kinzie,  attended  the  negotiation  and  signed  the  treaty  as 
witnesses.  The  latter  was  at  the  time  proprietor  of  a  trading  es- 
tablishment at  Chicago.  John  H.  Kinzie,  the  elder  brother,  had 
a  wide  acquaintance  throughout  the  Northwest,  with  the  Indians 
and  whites  alike.  He  had  been  at  different  times  in  the  employ 
of  Robert  Stuart  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  secretary 
to  Governor  Cass,  and  sub-Indian  agent  at  Fort  Winnebago.9" 
He  had  recently  resigned  the  latter  position,  laid  out  the  land 
pre-empted  by  the  family  into  town  lots,  and  thrown  in  his 
fortune  with  that  of  the  nascent  Chicago.  The  interests  of  the 
Kinzie  heirs,  therefore,  were  advocated  by  influential  spokes- 
men. Even  the  welfare  of  numerous  half-breed  dependents  of 
the  family  was  provided  for.  To  the  old  family  servant  of  John 
Kinzie,  Victoire  Porthier,912  and  her  children,  the  sum  of  seven 

»••  A  sketch  of  Kinzie's  career  written  by  his  widow  is  printed  in  Andreas,  op.  cit.,  I, 
97-99- 

»"  For  her  connection  with  Kinzie  see  ibid.,  I,  105. 


3'62  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

hundred  dollars  was  given  under  Schedule  A.  Her  brothers,  Jean 
Baptiste  and  Thomas  Mirandeau,  and  her  sisters,  Jane  and 
Rosetta,  received  among  them  the  sum  of  twelve  hundred 
dollars  with  the  provision  that  John  H.  Kinzie  should  act  as 
trustee  of  the  fund.  Thomas  is  the  "Tomah"  of  Wau  Bun,  the 
lad  who  had  been  taken  by  Kinzie  to  Fort  Winnebago  the 
preceding  winter  to  become  a  member  of  his  household.913 
That  Jean  Baptiste  had  also  been  a  servant  of  the  Kinzies 
at  Chicago  is  stated  by  the  author  of  Wau  Bun.914  Another 
member  of  John  Kinzie's  household  for  whom  a  grant  of  money 
was  secured  was  Josette,  the  daughter  of  Antoine  Ouilmette. 
Like  ' 'Tomah"  she  was  a  mere  child.915  She  had  been  a  mem- 
ber of  Kinzie's  household  since  the  spring  of  1831.  She  was 
granted  two  hundred  dollars  and  Kinzie  was  appointed  trustee 
of  the  fund. 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  paid 
out  under  Schedule  B,  over  one-eighth  was  given  to  the  four  sons 
and  daughters  of  John  Kinzie  and  to  his  stepdaughter,  Mrs. 
Helm.  To  the  latter  the  sum  of  two  thousand  dollars  was 
granted,  while  twenty  thousand  dollars  were  divided  in  equal 
portions  among  the  former.  In  addition  to  all  this,  a  second 
claim  of  Robert  A.  Kinzie  for  twelve  hundred  and  sixteen  dollars 
was  allowed.  Although  there  is  no  record  in  the  treaty  of  the 
grounds  on  which  the  various  demands  presented  were  based, 
the  improper  character  of  these  claims  seems  obvious.  Whatever 
the  basis  of  the  smaller  claim  of  Robert  Kinzie  may  have  been, 
the  twenty  thousand  dollars  apportioned  in  equal  amounts 
among  the  four  brothers  and  sisters  must  have  been  claimed  by 
virtue  of  some  inheritance  from  the  father.  The  facts  that  two 
of  the  claimants  were  women,  who  of  course  had  never  engaged 
in  the  Indian  trade,  and  each  of  whom  had  been  for  some  years 
the  wife  of  a  government  official;  that  the  claims  of  all  were  equal 
in  amount;  and  that  Robert  Kinzie  presented  a  second  claim, 

»"  Andreas,  op.  tit.,  I,  105;  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  376. 

•««  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  376. 

»•«  She  was  ten  years  old  in  1831  (ibid.,  233). 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  363 

which  was  allowed,  all  point  to  this  conclusion.  A  claim  for 
damages  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians  inherited  from  John  Kinzie 
must  necessarily  have  been  based  on  the  losses  he  sustained  in 
connection  with  the  Chicago  massacre.  The  losses  of  Kinzie 
and  Forsyth  at  that  time  had  been  severe,  and  Forsyth  at  least 
had  made  strenuous  efforts  to  obtain  compensation  from  Congress 
for  them.916  Whatever  ground  there  may  have  been  for  com- 
pensation from  this  source,  there  was  none  whatever  for  claiming 
it  from  the  Indians  in  connection  with  the  cession  of  their  lands. 
The  losses  sustained  were  due  to  acts  of  war,  for  which,  at  the 
close  of  the  War  of  1812  mutual  forgiveness  and  oblivion  had  been 
pledged  in  the  treaties  between  the  United  States  and  the  various 
northwestern  tribes.917  John  Kinzie  lived  until  1828,  and  was 
for  several  years  interpreter  and  sub-Indian  agent  at  Chicago. 
He  assisted  in  negotiating  various  treaties,918  yet  notwithstand- 
ing ample  opportunity  he  apparently  made  no  effort  to  secure 
compensation  from  the  Indians  for  his  losses.  In  the  space  of  a 
few  months  after  his  death,  however,  his  family  twice  secured 
from  the  government,  through  the  medium  of  an  Indian  treaty, 
the  sum  of  thirty-five  hundred  dollars.  By  the  treaty  with  the 
St.  Joseph  River  Pottawatomies  negotiated  at  Carey's  Mission 
in  September,  1828,  Robert  Forsyth  was  granted  the  sum  of 
twelve  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and  the  widow  and  heirs  of  John 
Kinzie  thirty-five  hundred.  The  allowance  to  the  latter,  it  was 
stated,  was  "in  consideration  of  the  attachment  of  the  Indians  to 
her  deceased  husband,  who  was  long  an  Indian  trader,  and  who 
lost  a  large  sum  in  the  trade  by  the  credits  given  to  them  and  also 

"«  See,  e.g.,  his  letters  to  the  Secretary  of  War  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  XI, 
3SI-S5;  also  his  letters  to  Captain  Heald,  January  2  and  April  10,  1813,  supra,  notes  613 
and  632. 

»"  See,  e.g.,  the  Treaty  of  Portage  des  Sioux,  July  2,  1815,  with  the  Illinois  River 
Pottawatomies.  Article  I  provides  that  "every  injury  or  act  of  hostility  by  one  or  either 
of  the  contracting  parties  against  the  other  shall  be  mutually  forgiven  and  forgot."  About 
a  dozen  treaties  concluded  at  this  time  with  the  various  tribes  contain  this  same  provision 
American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  II,  2  ff. 

»••  Treaty  with  the  Wyandots  and  other  tribes  concluded  at  St.  Mary's,  September  17, 
1818;  treaty  with  the  Delawares  at  the  same  place,  October  3, 1818;  treaty  with  the  Miamis 
October  6,  1818;  treaty  with  the  Pottawatomies  at  Chicago  in  1821. 


364  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

by  the  destruction  of  his  property."919  It  was  further  explained 
that  this  money  was  in  lieu  of  a  tract  of  land  which  the  Indians 
gave  to  John  Kinzie,  and  upon  which  he  lived. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  speculate  upon  the  question  of  the  loca- 
tion of  this  land,  for  the  Indians  were  powerless  to  alienate  their 
land  to  individuals,  a  fact  which  was,  of  course,  well  known  to  the 
commissioners  who  negotiated  the  treaty.  It  is  worth  noting, 
however,  that  two  of  the  signers  of  the  treaty  were  Alexander 
Wolcott,  son-in-law  of  Kinzie,  and  Robert  Forsyth,  the  bene- 
ficiary of  the  smaller  grant.  Less  than  a  year  later,  at  the  treaty 
concluded  at  Prairie  du  Chien  with  the  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies, 
and  Chippewas,  in  July,  1829,  the  heirs  of  Kinzie  again  claimed 
and  received  the  sum  of  thirty-five  hundred  dollars.  The  claim 
this  time  was  "for  depredations  committed  on  him  [Kinzie]  by 
the  Indians  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  of  Chicago  and  at  St. 
Joseph's,  during  the  winter  of  i8i2."920  The  treaty  stipulated 
that  the  sums  paid  to  claimants  were  "in  full  satisfaction"  of  the 
claims  brought  by  them  against  the  Indians.  Alexander  Wolcott 
assisted  in  negotiating  this  treaty  also,  and  both  he  and  his 
brother-in-law,  John  H.  Kinzie,  signed  it.  Thus  in  1829  the 
heirs  of  Kinzie  obtained  "full  satisfaction"  from  the  Pottawato- 
mies and  allied  tribes  for  the  losses  sustained  in  1812,  despite 
the  fact  that  by  solemn  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  the 
Indians  mutual  forgiveness  and  oblivion  for  the  hostile  acts  of 
each  had  been  decreed.  But  the  payment  in  full  in  1829  was  as 
little  successful  in  disposing  of  the  matter  as  the  treaty  of  1815 
had  been,  for  the  self-same  claimants  utilized  the  opportunity 
presented  by  the  Pottawatomie  cession  of  1833  to  raise  them- 
selves to  comparative  affluence  by  extracting,  ostensibly  from 
the  Indians  but  in  reality  from  the  government,  the  sum  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars  more. 

Nor  is  the  grant  of  two  thousand  dollars  to  Mrs.  Helm  by  the 
Treaty  of  1833  less  dubious  in  character.  Lieutenant  Helm  had 

»'» For  the  treaty  see  U.S.  Statutes  at  Large,  VII,  317-19.  For  the  schedule  of  sums 
granted  to  individuals  see  ibid.,  603-4. 

»»•  For  the  treaty  see  ibid.,  320-22;  for  the  schedule  of  claims  see  ibid.,  604. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  365 

come  to  Fort  Dearborn  in  the  summer  of  1811  in  straitened 
financial  circumstances.921  Since  his  pay  was  but  twenty-five 
dollars  a  month,  he  can  scarcely  have  increased  his  fortune 
materially  in  the  ensuing  period  of  a  little  over  a  year.  In  fact, 
during  this  time,  his  account  with  the  government  factory 
steadily  increased,  and  when  the  store  was  closed  by  Irwin  in 
July,  1812,  was  one  of  the  largest  on  the  factor's  books.922  In  the 
nature  of  things  he  could  not  have  lost  any  great  amount  of 
property  at  the  time  of  the  massacre.  Whatever  it  was,  however, 
Mrs.  Helm  had  already  been  compensated  for  it.  By  the  Treaty 
of  Prairie  du  Chien  of  July,  1829,  she  received  eight  hundred 
dollars  "for  losses  sustained  at  the  time  of  the  capture  of  Fort 
Dearborn,  in  1812,"  with  the  stipulation,  of  course,  that  this 
payment  was  "in  full  satisfaction"  of  all  claims.  Like  her 
half-brothers  and  sisters,  however,  she  now  again  received  com- 
pensation, and  her  claims,  like  theirs,  had  waxed  greater  with 
the  passage  of  time  and  the  increase  of  opportunity  for  collecting 
them.  The  ignoring  of  Lieutenant  Helm's  interest  in  the  money 
collected  for  the  destruction  of  his  property  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  in  the  summer  of  1829  Mrs.  Helm  obtained  a  divorce  from 
him.923  The  decree  provided  that  she  should  hold  in  her  own 
right,  as  a  part  of  the  alimony  allowed  her,  all  of  the  money  or 
other  property  granted  to  her  as  one  of  the  heirs  of  John  Kinzie 
in  the  late  treaty  of  Prairie  du  Chien.  Although  the  latter  ante- 
dates the  granting  of  the  divorce  decree  by  almost  eleven  weeks, 
it  is  evident  that  Mrs.  Helm's  spokesmen  at  the  negotiation  of 
the  treaty  had  arranged  its  terms,  as  far  as  they  related  to  her, 
with  this  provision  of  the  decree  in  view. 

A  few  days  after  the  treaty  had  been  concluded  the  distribu- 
tion of  goods  to  the  Indians  for  which  it  made  provision  was 
begun.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  goods  which  the  Indians  were  to  receive,  eighty  thousand 
dollars'  worth  were  distributed  at  this  time,  in  addition  to  the 

'«  See  supra,  p.  177. 

»"  Indian  Trade  Department,  Chicago  Petty  Ledger,  MS  volume  in  Pension  Building. 

»"  McCulloch,  Early  Days  of  Peoria  and  Chicago,  108. 


366  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

payment  of  the  annuity  in  cash.  But  little  reflection  is  required 
to  show  that  the  Indians  themselves  profited  little  by  the  wealth 
bestowed  upon  them.  The  greater  part  of  it  quickly  passed  from 
their  hands  to  the  coffers  of  the  traders,  much  of  it  in  exchange 
for  bad  whisky;  and  the  red  man  was  probably  more  injured  than 
benefited  by  the  mess  of  pottage  for  which  he  had  surrendered 
his  birthright. 

Jeremiah  Porter,  the  pioneer  preacher,  has  left  a  vivid 
description  of  the  proceedings  which  accompanied  the  payment 
to  the  Indians.924  The  money  and  goods  were  paid  to  heads  of 
families  according  to  the  number  in  each  household.  The 
money  was  paid  in  silver  half-dollars,  and  some  heads  of  families 
received  four  hundred  of  these  coins,  which  were  thrown  into  the 
corner  of  their  dirty  blankets  and  "carried  off  in  triumph." 
The  scenes  attending  the  payment  were  full  of  excitement.  The 
distribution  was  continued  on  Sunday  the  same  as  during  the 
week.  "Thousands  of  human ,  beings — some  sitting,  some 
standing,  others  lying  on  the  grass  in  all  imaginable  positions, 
some  riding,  some  fighting,  and  one  bleeding  to  death,  the  main 
artery  of  his  arm  being  cut  off,  while  his  murderer  stood  a 
prisoner,  struggling  in  the  arms  of  a  female  avenger  of  blood" — 
such  were  the  scenes  enacted  that  Sabbath  day.  Meanwhile  the 
minister  preached  to  his  little  flock  from  the  text,  "And  he 
kneeled  down  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin 
to  their  charge,  and  fell  asleep." 

In  preparation  for  the  payment  the  traders  had  ordered  large 
quantities  of  whisky,  anticipating  a  golden  harvest.  To  their 
chagrin,  however,  a  strong  south  wind  prevailed  for  many  days, 
so  that  no  vessels  could  come  up  the  lake  while  the  Indians  were 
here.  Temperance  men  and  Christians  rejoiced,  while  the 
traders  were  correspondingly  disappointed.  In  consequence  of 
this  "Divine  protection"  of  the  Indians,  they  carried  away  from 
Chicago  a  large  amount  of  the  silver  which,  but  for  the  contrary 
wind,  would  have  been  wasted  in  revelry  and  debauchery.925 

'«  Porter,  Earliest  Religious  History  of  Chicago,  72-74. 

"5  Porter,  who  wrote  many  years  after  the  event,  states  that  the  amount  paid  in  silver 
was  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  estimates  that  the  savages  took  away  thirty  thousand  dollars 
among  them. 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  367 

Two  years  passed  when  in  the  summer  of  1835  the  natives 
assembled  at  Chicago  to  receive  the  last  payment  of  their  annuity 
and  to  prepare  for  the  long  journey  to  their  new  home  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  Chicago  had  long  been  a  favorite  resort  with  the 
Pottawatomies.  Here  they  had  come  to  hold  their  councils  and 
to  receive  their  annuities.  Here  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century 
before  they  had  gained  their  most  signal  triumph  over  the  race 
that  was  crowding  them  ever  westward.  Since  the  last  great 
gathering  two  years  before,  the  sprawling  village  had  developed 
into  what,  to  the  unsophisticated  red  man,  must  have  seemed  a 
veritable  metropolis.  The  signs  of  civilization  which  it  presented 
to  their  wondering  gaze,  although  crude  enough  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  twentieth  century,  must  have  brought  home  to  them 
the  realization  that  their  birthright  had  passed  into  the  possession 
of  a  mightier  race;  already  they  were  strangers  in  the  land  of 
their  nativity. 

As  on  happier  occasions  of  meeting,  however,  the  Indians 
danced  and  sang  and  drank  and  fought.  Several  thousand  had 
assembled,926  and  much  the  same  picturesque  and  motley  scenes 
were  presented  as  had  attended  the  gathering  of  1833.  "Some 
were  well  dressed,  well  mounted,  and  dignified,"  wrote  Porter. 
"These  were,  I  suppose,  civilized  and  Christianized  Indians  from 
St.  Joseph.  Others  were  ragged,  dirty,  half-naked,  and  drunk, 

singing  their  fiendish  songs Thousands  are  around  us.  I 

can  hardly  raise  my  eyes  to  my  window  without  seeing  them  in 
some  form — men  racing  on  horseback  or  women  riding  by  with 
their  heavy  panniers  full  of  flour,  or  beef,  or  children.  Many  of 
the  horses  have  bells  on  them  that  are  ringing  all  day.  Some  of 
the  men  and  some  of  the  women  also  have  bells  on  their  limbs 
which  ring  with  each  step  they  take."927  "A  more  motley  group 
eye  never  beheld,"  wrote  the  reporter  for  Chicago's  only  news- 
paper, the  Weekly  Democrat.  "Their  clothing  is  of  every  color, 

"'Jeremiah  Porter  wrote  in  his  journal  at  the  time,  "thousands  are  around  us" 
(Chicago  Times,  December  19,  1875).  The  Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  August  19,  18.35, 
estimated  the  number  present  at  from  two  thousand  to  four  thousand.  John  Dean  Caton, 
who  was  a  resident  of  Chicago  and  deeply  interested  in  the  Indians,  puts  the  number  (Mis- 
cellanies, 139)  at  five  thousand. 

'"Journal  of  Jeremiah  Porter,  in  Chicago  Times,  December  19,  1875. 


368  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

bright  red  predominating,  and  bedizened  with  bracelets,  ribbons, 
and  feathers."  The  reporter  dismisses  the  entire  subject  of  the 
gathering  in  a  single  paragraph,  however,  in  the  course  of  which 
he  nonchalantly  imparts  the  information  that  "On  Monday,  we 
understand  that  one  was  tried  by  his  tribe  for  the  murder  of  a 
squaw,  and  sentenced  to  death.  He  was  shot  by  the  chief  a 
short  distance  from  town."928 

Before  quitting  forever  their  ancient  council  ground  the 
warriors  indulged  in  a  last  great  war  dance.  The  matchless 
charm  of  Irving  has  immortalized  the  Moor's  farewell  to  his 
beloved  land.  More  dramatic  in  its  picturesque  savagery,  and 
worthier  far  of  the  life  he  had  led,  was  the  Pottawatomie's  fare- 
well to  Chicago.  Driven  westward  by  the  advancing  tide  of 
civilization,  in  the  final  moments  of  their  expiring  tenure  of  their 
homeland  the  warriors  gave  a  demonstration  of  their  devotion  to 
their  ancient  ideals,  by  staging  before  their  conquerors  such  an 
exhibition  of  savagery  as  appalled  the  stoutest  hearts. 

As  many  warriors  as  could  be  mustered,  about  eight  hundred 
in  number,  assembled  in  the  council  house  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river.929  Then-  only  covering  was  a  strip  of  cloth  about  the  loins 
and  a  profusion  of  paint  of  brilliant  colors  with  which  the  face 
and  body  were  hideously  decorated.  Their  hair,  long,  coarse, 
and  black,  was  gathered  into  a  scalp  lock  on  top  of  the  head  and 
profusely  decorated  with  hawk  and  eagle  feathers,  some  strung 
together  so  as  to  extend  down  the  back  nearly  to  the  ground. 
Led  by  a  band  of  musicians,  the  procession  moved  westward  from 
the  council  house  along  the  bank  of  the  river  until  the  North 
Branch  was  reached.  Crossing  this  on  the  old  bridge,  it  turned 
to  the  south  along  the  West  Side  to  the  bridge  across  the  South 
Branch,  not  far  from  Lake  Street.  This  was  crossed  in  turn,  and 
the  procession  moved  eastward  on  Lake  Street  and  came  to  an 
end  in  front  of  Fort  Dearborn. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  render  the  dance,  which  to  the 
participants  was  "a  funeral  ceremony  of  old  associations  and 

»»•  Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  August  19,  1835. 

«"  For  the  ceremony  I  have  drawn  upon  the  graphic  description  of  Caton  (Miscella- 
nies, 141-45),  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  proceedings. 


•f      •<  e 

fa  8 

I*       O  -C 

fc  & 
O 


O    ^ 


THE  VANISHING  OF  THE  RED  MAN  369 

memories,"  impressive  and  solemn.  The  procession  moved 
slowly,  the  warriors  advancing  with  a  continual  dance.  In  front 
of  every  house  along  their  course  a  stop  was  made  and  extra  feats 
were  performed.  The  musicians  produced  a  discordant  din  of 
hideous  noises  by  beating  on  hollow  vessels  and  striking  sticks 
and  clubs  together. 

The  Sauganash  Hotel  at  that  time  stood  on  the  corner  of  Lake 
and  Market  Streets,  where  a  quarter  of  a  century  later  Abraham 
Lincoln  received  that  nomination  for  the  presidency  which 
involved  the  nation  in  civil  war.  From  its  second-story  parlor 
windows  a  group  of  spectators,  chiefly  ladies,  gazed  out  upon  the 
strange  exhibition.  From  this  vantage  point  John  D.  Caton,  a 
future  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  looked  down 
upon  the  dance.  It  was  mid-August,  the  morning  was  very 
warm,  and  the  exertions  of  the  warriors  caused  the  perspiration 
to  pour  forth  almost  in  streams.  "  Their  eyes  were  wild  and 
blood-shot,"  writes  Caton,  "their  countenances  had  assumed  an 
expression  of  all  the  worst  passions  which  can  find  a  place  in  the 
breast  of  a  savage;  fierce  anger,  terrible  hate,  dire  revenge, 
remorseless  cruelty,  all  were  expressed  in  their  terrible  features. 
Their  muscles  stood  out  in  great  hard  knots,  as  if  wrought  to  a 
tension  which  must  burst  them.  Their  tomahawks  and  clubs  were 
thrown  and  brandished  about  in  every  direction  with  the  most 
terrible  ferocity,  and  with  a  force  and  energy  which  could  only 
result  from  the  highest  excitement,  and  with  every  step  and  every 
gesture  they  uttered  the  most  frightful  yells,  in  every  imaginable 
key  and  note,  though  generally  the  highest  and  shrillest  possible. 
The  dance,  which  was  ever  continued,  consisted  of  leaps  and 
spasmodic  steps,  now  forward  and  now  back  or  sideways,  with 
the  whole  body  distorted  into  every  imaginable  unnatural 
position,  most  generally  stooping  forward,  with  the  head  and  face 
thrown  up,  the  back  arched  down,  first  one  foot  thrown  forward 
and  then  withdrawn,  and  the  other  similarly  thrust  out,  frequently 
squatting  quite  to  the  ground,  and  all  with  a  movement  almost 
as  quick  as  lightning.  Their  weapons  were  brandished  as  if  they 
would  slay  a  thousand  enemies  at  every  blow,  while  the  yells 


37°  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

and  screams  they  uttered  were  broken  up  and  multiplied  and 
rendered  all  the  more  hideous  by  a  rapid  clapping  of  the  mouth 
with  the  hand." 

The  impression  produced  upon  the  spectators  by  such  an 
exhibition  can  readily  be  imagined.  Many  of  those  who  had 
gathered  at  the  Sauganash  were  recent  arrivals  from  the  East 
and  knew  nothing  of  the  Indians  but  what  they  had  been  told  of 
their  butcheries  and  tortures.  Others,  like  Caton  himself,  had 
been  for  some  time  familiar  with  the  red  men.  But  the  spectacle 
tried  the  nerves  of  even  the  stoutest,  and  all  felt  that  one  such 
sight  was  sufficient  for  a  lifetime.  From  the  Sauganash  parlors, 
whose  windows  faced  the  west,  the  parade  was  visible  some  time 
before  it  reached  the  North  Branch  bridge,  and  from  this  place 
all  the  way  to  the  bridge  across  the  South  Branch  and  down  Lake 
Street  to  the  hotel  itself.  As  they  came  upon  the  bridge,  the 
wild  band  of  musicians  in  front  redoubled  their  blows  to  increase 
the  noise.  When  the  head  of  the  column  had  reached  the  front 
of  the  hotel,  "leaping,  dancing,  gesticulating,  and  screaming, 
while  they  looked  up  with  hell  itself  depicted  on  their  faces,  at  the 
chemokoman  squaws  in  the  windows,  and  brandished  their 
weapons  as  if  they  were  about  to  make  a  real  attack  in  deadly 
earnest,  the  rear  was  still  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  two 
hundred  yards  off;  and  all  the  intervening  space  including  the 
bridge  and  its  approaches,  was  covered  with  this  raging  savagery 
glistening  in  the  sun,  reeking  with  streamy  sweat,  fairly  frothing 
at  their  mouths  as  with  unaffected  rage,  it  seemed  as  if  we  had  a 
picture  of  hell  itself  before  us,  and  a  carnival  of  the  damned 
spirits  there  confined,  whose  pastimes  we  may  suppose  should 
present  some  such  scene  as  this." 

Thus  did  the  red  man  play  his  savage  r61e  to  the  end.  It  was 
a  brave  show  which  he  enacted  that  summer  morning,  but  it  was 
nothing  more.  For  him  the  scepter  of  power  had  departed,  and 
this  was  his  final  farewell.  A  few  weeks  later  he  took  up  his 
weary  journey  toward  the  sunset,  and  Chicago  knew  him  no 
more.  The  red  man  had  vanished,  and  Chicago  and  Chicago's 
future  were  committed  to  the  care  of  another  and  mightier  race. 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX  I 

JOURNAL  OF    LIEUTENANT   JAMES    STRODE    SWEARINGEN, 

"REMARKS  ON  THE   ROAD   FROM  DETROIT  TO 

CHICAGO,"  JULY-AUGUST,  1803930 

DETROIT,  July,  i4th,  1803. 

Left  this  place  this  morning  at  half  past  five  o'clock,  for  Chicago 
and  proceeded  about  26  miles  and  encamped  at  five  o'clock  p.m.,  on 
a  small  branch  of  bad  water.  The  land  is  generally  good  timbered, 
with  large  oak,  ash,  and  hickory.  A  great  deal  of  underbrush. 
Crossed  no  waters  except  the  river  Roush. 

FRIDAY,  July,  i5th. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  half  past  four  a.m.,  20  miles,  and 
encamped  at  i  o'clock  P.M.,  on  the  river  Huron,  which  is  very  low. 
The  land  is  generally  level  and  wet.  Several  swamps,  badly  tim- 
bered, and  the  road  very  bad  on  account  of  being  so  wet.  Fine 
weather. 

SATURDAY,  July,  i6th. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  6  o'clock  a.m.,  18  miles,  and  encamped 
at  a  small  Indian  village  near  three  small  lakes  and  branch,  at  2 
o'clock,  p.m.  The  land  is  generally  level  and  poor,  timbered  with 
oak,  several  prairies,  not  of  a  good  quality.  The  weather  is  warm. 
Clear  days. 

SUNDAY,  July,  iyth. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  7  o'clock  a.m.,  20  miles,  and  encamped 
at  5  o'clock  P.M.,  on  a  handsome  branch  of  cool,  good  water,  near  a 
spring  of  clear,  fine  water.  The  land  is  generally  poor  and  hilly. 
Passed  a  lake  of  about  2  miles  in  length  and  one  half  in  breadth,  and 

•>•  The  Journal  was  kept  by  Swearingen  while  en  route  to  Chicago  in  temporary  com- 
mand of  the  company  of  United  States  soldiers  going  to  establish  the  first  Fort  Dearborn 
in  the  summer  of  1803.  The  original  manuscript  is  at  present  the  property  of  a  grandson 
of  Swearingen,  Mr.  James  S.  Thatcher,  of  Dallas,  Tex.  Since  access  to  it  was  impossible 
the  text  presented  here  is  taken  from  a  typewritten  copy  of  the  original  made  for  the  Chicago 
Historical  Society  in  1903  by  another  descendant  of  Swearingen,  Miss  Marian  Scott  Frank- 
lin, of  Chillicothe,  Ohio. 

373 


374  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

a  spring  and  a  handsome  branch  of  fine  water.    At  this  branch,  there 
is  every  appearance  of  a  large  bed  of  iron  ore.     Fine  weather. 

MONDAY,  July,  i8th. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  15  minutes  past  2  o'clock  p.m.,  18 
miles  and  encamped  on  Grand  river,  at  7  o'clock,  p.m.,  near  a  village. 
Crossed  two  small  branches,  passed  several  ponds  of  water.  Grand 
river  is  about  30  feet  wide  and  tolerably  rapid.  At  this  time  it  is 
shallow.  The  land  is  poor,  hilly,  and  barren,  except  the  river  bot- 
tom, which  is  about  a  half  mile  wide  and  well  timbered,  with  ash, 
oak,  and  beech.  Weather  fine  and  cool. 

TUESDAY,  July,  igth. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  6  o'clock,  a.m.,  25  miles,  and  encamped 
on  the  river  Kehanimasoo,  at  15  minutes  after  6  o'clock.  The  river 
is  about  60  feet  wide,  tolerable  rapid,  and  not  deep.  The  banks  are 
low,  no  bottoms.  The  land  is  hilly,  poor  and  barren.  About  four 
and  a  half  miles  from  the  river,  there  is  a  handsome  spring  and  large 
branch.  This  day  we  crossed  several  handsome  branches  of  tolerable 
good  water,  several  large  swamps,  praries,  &c.  &c.  The  weather  is 
warm  and  fine. 

WEDNESDAY,  July,  aoth. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  half  past  6  o'clock,  a.m.,  27  miles  and 
encamped  on  the  river  Kehanimasoo,  at  6  o'clock  p.m.  This  day  we 
crossed  Little  Kehanimasoo,  at  6  miles  from  our  encampment,  and 
several  other  small  branches.  The  land  is  tolerably  good  in  places, 
remainder  open,  oak  land,  soil  thin.  Fine  weather. 

THURSDAY,  July,  2ist. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  half  past  6  a.m.,  15  miles,  and  encamped 
on  the  river  Kehanimasoo,  at  3  o'clock,  p.m.  The  land  is  broken  and 
barren,  timber  generally  small  oak,  except  the  last  four  miles,  which 
is  fine  rich  land  well  timbered.  Crossed  several  small  branches  and 
passed  near  some  handsome  lakes  and  praries,  some  of  which,  are  low 
and  swampy.  Fine,  cool  weather.  9  o'clock,  p.m.  smart  shower. 

FRIDAY,  July,  22nd. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  15  minutes  past  7  o'clock  a.m.  The 
land  in  places,  tolerably  good.  Most  of  this  day's  march,  is  through 
level  barrens,  large  praries  9  miles  through,  soil  not  good.  Crossed  2 
branches  in  the  morning.  Fine  weather. 


APPENDIX  I  375 

SATURDAY,  July,  23rd. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  9  o'clock  a.m.,  12  miles  and  encamped 
near  an  Indian  village  at  2  o'clock,  p.m.,  near  the  edge  of  a  small  lake 
of  very  bad  water.  The  la  nd  in  general,  tolerably  good,  well  timbered, 
with  ash,  oak,  beech,  sugar  trees,  etc.  Several  large  grass  swamps, 
roads  very  bad  on  account  of  fallen  timber.  9  o'clock  p.m.,  heavy 
storm  of  rain  and  wind. 

SUNDAY,  July,  24th. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  7  o'clock  a.m.,  19  miles  and  encamped 
in  a  prarie  near  a  creek  at  6  o'clock  p.m.  The  land  is  part  very  good, 
timber,  ash,  beech,  and  sugar  trees.  Greater  part  very  poor  and 
barren,  several  large  creeks,  praries,  swamps.  A  handsome  spring  in 
the  edge  of  a  wet  prarie,  12  miles  from  encampment. 

MONDAY,  July,  2$th. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  15  minutes  past  8  o'clock  a.m.,  12 
miles  to  the  river  St.  Josephus  and  encamped  on  the  bank  near 
Kinzey's  Improvement,  at  i  o'clock  p.m.  The  first  mile  is  through  a 
very  handsome  prarie,  through  a  small  piece  of  tolerable  woodland. 
One  mile  to  the  river  Limmonet,  Crossed  a  handsome  branch  at  the 
mouth  and  proceeded  down  this  river  about  two  miles,  crossed  it,  3 
miles  through  tolerably  good  oak  land,  timber  tall  and  handsome,  to 
an  Indian  village,  on  the  river  near  the  mouth,  crossed  it  at  this 
village,  and  proceeded  up  the  river  St.  Josephus,  5  miles,  crossed 
several  handsome  branches.  Several  showers  of  rain.  The  land 
from  the  village  is  barren  and  poor. 

TUESDAY,  July,  26th. 

Detained  her[e]  on  account  of  sending  for  [boats  ?]  to  the  Kenka- 
kee  river,  which  is  6  miles  from  this  place.  Portage  4  miles,  from 
St.  Josephus  river  to  the  Kenkakee  river.  Kenkakee  is  a  branch  of 
the  Illinois  and  is  navigable,  a  short  distance  above  this,  for  small 
crafts.  In  the  spring  there  is  no  portage,  the  two  waters  connect. 

WEDNESDAY,  July,  27th. 

Proceeded  down  the  river,  15  minutes  past  12  o'clock  with  17  men 
and  baggage,  36  miles,  and  encamped  on  the  river  bank,  at  half  past 
6  o'clock,  p.m.  The  remainder  of  the  men,  marched  by  land.  This 
river  is  generally  very  rapid  and  shoal  bank  very  good. 


376  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

THURSDAY,  July,  28th. 

Proceeded  down  the  river  at  half  past  6  a.m.,  40  miles  and 
encamped  at  the  mouth,  at  2  o'clock  p.m.  The  bank  at  this  place  is 
about  60  feet  high,  level  oak  land  back.  From  Kinzey's,  to  this 
place,  by  land,  is  36  miles.  Detained  at  this  place  until  the  i2th  of 
August.  The  weather  was  generally  very  good.  Distance  from 
Detroit  to  this  place  is  272  miles. 

FRIDAY,  August,  i2th,  1803. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  up  the  lake  at  6  o'clock  a.m.,  14  miles 
and  encamped  at  i  o'clock,  p.m.,  on  account  of  the  roughness  of  the 
lake.  Several  very  heavy  showers  of  rain. 

SATURDAY,  August,  i3th. 

Detained  on  account  of  the  roughness  of  the  lake.     High  winds. 

SUNDAY,  August,  i4th. 

Still  detained  on  account  of  the  roughness  of  the  lake  and  high 
winds. 

MONDAY,  August,  i$th. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  5  o'clock,  a.m.,  39  miles  and  encamped 
at  half  past  5  p.m.  near  an  old  fort.  Heavy  storm  of  wind  and  rain, 
in  the  night.  12  miles  from  encampment  is  a  handsome  Indian 
village,  3  miles  to  a  river  about  20  yards  wide,  shallow,  12  miles  to  a 
small  river,  then  12  miles  to  plain  [place?]  of  encampment. 

TUESDAY,  August,  isth. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  15  minutes  past  5  o'clock  a.m.  33  miles, 
and  encamped  on  the  Little  Calamac  river,  at  16  minutes  past  5 
o'clock,  p.m.  Crossed  the  Grand  Calamac  river,  at  8  o'clock  a.m., 
12  miles  from  encampment. 

WEDNESDAY,  August,  i7th. 

Proceeded  on  our  march  at  6  o'clock  a.m.,  34  miles  and  encamped 
on  the  Chicago  river,  at  2  o'clock  p.m.  This  river  is  about  30  yards 
wide  where  the  garrison  is  intended,  to  be  built,  and  from  18  feet  and 
upwards,  deep,  dead  water,  owing  to  its  being  stopped  up  at  the 
mouth,  by  the  washing  of  sand,  from  the  lakes.  The  water  is  not 
fit  to  use.  The  bank  where  the  fort  is  to  be  built  is  about  8  feet  high 
and  a  half  mile  above  the  mouth.  The  opposite  bank  is  not  so  high, 
not  being  a  difference,  of  more  than  two  feet,  by  appearances.  The 


APPENDIX  I  377 

banks  above  are  quite  low.  The  distance  from  Detroit,  to  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Josephus,  is  272  miles.  From  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Josephus 
to  Chicago,  90  miles,  making  in  the  whole  362  miles. 

PORTAGE. 

A  portage  from  the  Chicago  river,  so  as  to  get  into  the  Illinois 
river,  which  is  400  miles  from  the  lakes,  or  the  mouth  of  Chicago. 
This  portage  is  6  miles  above  the  mouth  and  a  short  distance,  across 
into  a  small  creek,  which  discharges  itself  into  the  river,  16  miles  from 
this  place,  at  a  village,  from  thence,  into  a  small  lakes  and  creeks, 
until  intersected,  by  the  Illinois  river,  from  thence  into  the  Missis- 
sippi. In  the  spring  or  time  of  high  water,  small  crafts,  may  pass 
without  any  land  carriage. 


APPENDIX  II 

SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION  FOR  THE  FORT  DEARBORN 
MASSACRE 

The  history  of  lost  manuscripts,  even  in  so  new  a  country  as  the 
United  States,  contains  not  only  much  of  interest  to  the  curious,  but 
much  of  profit  to  the  serious,  who  are  genuinely  interested  in  the  work 
of  preserving  the  records  of  the  past.  Various  have  the  fortunes  of 
these  precious  documents  been.  Some  have  been  used  by  frugal 
housewives  to  cover  jelly  glasses  or  pack  eggs,  others  have  gone  to 
feed  the  paper  mill  or  the  furnace;  while  all  the  time  our  libraries 
and  historical  societies  are  longing  for  the  opportunity  to  secure  such 
materials  for  preservation  for  the  use  of  future  generations.  At  times, 
however,  the  very  measure  of  placing  manuscripts  within  the  protect- 
ing walls  of  an  institution  has  been  responsible  for  their  oblivion. 
Either  the  document  has  been  mislaid  and  its  resting-place  forgotten, 
or  actual  destruction  has  come  upon  it. 

The  history  of  manuscripts  pertaining  to  the  Fort  Dearborn 
tragedy  furnishes  numerous  illustrations  of  these  various  contin- 
gencies. One  of  the  most  important  of  them,  a  document  of  several 
hundred  pages,  disappeared,  apparently  for  all  time,  from  the  home 
of  the  Heald  family  a  half-century  ago.  Another,  Lieutenant  Helm's 
massacre  narrative,  after  being  lost  to  sight  for  three-quarters  of  a 
century,  was  discovered  a  few  years  since  in  the  Detroit  Public 
Library.  A  third,  the  fatal  order  of  Hull  to  Captain  Heald  for  the 
evacuation  of  the  fort,  long  supposed  to  have  been  destroyed,  has 
been  for  over  forty  years,  unknown  to  historical  workers,  a  part  of 
the  Draper  Collection,  now  the  property  of  the  Wisconsin  State  His- 
torical Society.  Still  other  documents  gathered  with  loving  care 
within  the  walls  of  the  local  Historical  Society  by  citizens  of  Chicago, 
by  reason  of  this  fact  were  doomed  to  perish  in  one  or  other  of  the 
fires  which  have  twice  consumed  the  Society's  archives.  Such  was 
the  fate  of  the  papers  of  Lieutenant  Swearingen,  destroyed  in  the 
great  fire  of  1871,  a  few  years  after  he  had  presented  them  to  the 
Society.  Such  was  the  fate,  also,  of  John  Kinzie's  account  books 

378 


APPENDIX  II  379 

with  their  unique  picture  of  early  Chicago  in  the  years  from  1804 
to  1824. 

Fortunately  in  both  these  instances  a  remnant  of  the  original 
has  been  preserved  to  us  through  the  very  fact  of  its  retention  in 
private  hands.  Swearingen  retained  part  of  his  private  papers,  and 
some  of  these,  including  the  original  journal  of  the  march  of  the 
troops  from  Detroit  to  Chicago  in  1803  to  establish  the  first  Fort 
Dearborn,  are  still  in  the  possession  of  his  descendants.931  Of  Kinzie's 
account  books  a  transcript  of  the  names  together  with  some  additional 
data  is  all  that  remains.932  Its  preservation  is  due  to  the  fortunate 
circumstance  that  ten  years  before  the  Chicago  Fire  the  list  was 
copied  for  the  use  of  a  historical  worker,  who  carried  it  with  him  when 
he  left  Chicago  to  enter  the  Union  army.  More  than  forty  years 
later,  on  the  occasion  of  the  centennial  of  the  founding  of  Fort  Dear- 
born, the  original  books  having  been  destroyed,  it  was  returned  to 
the  Historical  Society. 

A  source  of  equal  regret  to  the  investigator  is  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  documents  pertaining  to  the  massacre  which  actually  remain 
to  us  are  a  disappointment  in  one  respect  or  another.  Captain  Heald, 
who  of  all  men  was  best  qualified  to  speak  with  authority,  left  a  report 
of  only  a  page  to  cover  the  entire  period  from  the  preliminary  mas- 
sacre at  Chicago  in  April  until  his  arrival  in  Pittsburgh  late  in  October. 
Lieutenant  Helm,  who  should  have  been  the  best  qualified  witness 
after  Heald,  labored  long  and  arduously  upon  a  narrative  which  goes 
into  minute  detail  with  respect  to  the  massacre  itself;  on  examination, 
however,  it  becomes  evident  that  much  of  the  author's  labor  was 
directed  to  the  end  of  misstating  rather  than  revealing  the  facts. 
McAfee,  one  of  the  best  historians  of  the  War  of  1812,  deriving  his 
information  from  Sergeant  Griffith,  a  participant  in  the  massacre,  saw 
fit  to  devote  but  three  pages  to  his  account  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Dearborn. 
Finally,  in  Mrs.  Kinzie,  the  author  of  Wau  Bun,  the  youthful  Chicago 
gained  a  writer  of  more  than  usual  charm,  who  from  her  position  in 
the  Kinzie  family  and  her  proximity  to  the  massacre  in  point  of  time 
enjoyed  an  opportunity  now  gone  forever  to  gain  from  eye-witnesses 
of  the  events  attending  the  massacre  information  for  an  authoritative 
narrative;  yet  her  account  is  perhaps  the  most  disappointing,  from 
the  historical  point  of  view,  of  any  with  which  we  have  to  deal. 

"'  For  the  Journal  see  supra,  Appendix  I. 

"'  The  allusion  is  to  the  Barry  Transcript,  which  has  been  cited  in  various  footnotes. 


380  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

It  is  our  immediate  task,  however,  to  estimate  the  sources  of 
information  that  remain  to  us  for  what  they  are  worth.  First  in 
order  must  be  placed  the  report  of  Captain  Heald  to  the  government. 
His  official  rank,  the  concise  yet  inclusive  manner  of  expression,  the 
early  date,  October  23,  1812,  all  unite  to  give  it  priority  of  considera- 
tion. Hull's  terse  compliment,  "  Captain  Heald  is  a  judicious  officer, 
and  I  shall  confide  much  to  his  discretion,"  Heald's  record  in  the 
service,  the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  he  took  command  at 
Fort  Dearborn,  and  the  few  papers  of  his  in  existence,  show  him  to 
have  been  an  officer  of  merit  and  of  judgment.  In  striking  contrast 
with  the  narratives  of  some  of  his  detractors,  Heald's  report  is  marked 
by  an  air  of  candor  and  plain  common  sense.  He  gives  not  the  slight- 
est intimation  of  any  feeling  of  prejudice  or  hostility  toward  anyone 
in  the  garrison  or  settlement.  Kinzie,  the  trader,  who  looms  so  large 
in  the  Wau  Bun  narrative,  is  not  even  mentioned.  No  statements 
calculated  to  challenge  the  reader's  credulity  are  made.  From  any 
point  of  view  the  report  must  be  ranked  as  historical  material  of  a 
high  order  of  excellence,  our  only  ground  for  disappointment  pro- 
ceeding from  its  brevity. 

Heald's  official  report  is  supplemented  to  some  extent  by  his 
journal,  which  sketches  the  main  events  of  his  life  until  after  his 
retirement  from  the  army,  and  by  a  number  of  letters  and  papers  in 
the  Draper  Collection  and  in  the  possession  of  his  descendants.  The 
second  important  source  is  the  narrative  of  Lieutenant  Helm,  written 
in  the  summer  of  1814.  It  is  approximately  three  times  as  long  as 
Heald's  report,  and  describes  the  actual  battle  with  much  detail. 
Written  by  the  officer  second  in  command  of  the  troops,  it  would 
be  of  inestimable  value  to  the  student  in  supplementing  Heald's 
report,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  in  this  instance  the  author's 
candor  is  as  conspicuous  by  its  absence  as  it  is  by  its  presence  in 
the  former  one. 

Further  consideration  of  Helm's  narrative  is  reserved  for  the 
present.  After  these  accounts  of  the  two  ranking  officers,  who  were 
also  the  only  ones  to  survive  the  battle,  must  be  placed  the  narratives 
of  their  wives  as  recorded  by  their  descendants.  These  are  the  rela- 
tion of  Rebekah  Heald  as  told  to  her  son,  Darius  Heald,  and  his 
family,  and  the  Helm-Kinzie  account  embodied  in  Mrs.  Juliette 
Kinzie's  Wau  Bun. 


APPENDIX  II  381 

Rebekah  Heald  was  the  only  one,  apparently,  of  those  concerned 
in  the  massacre  who  took  the  trouble  to  write  a  comprehensive  account 
of  her  life  in  Chicago.  Before  her  death  in  1856  she  dictated  to  a 
niece  a  large  number  of  facts  connected  with  her  early  life.  The 
manuscript  was  foolscap  and  contained,  according  to  her  son's  recol- 
lection of  it,  several  hundred  pages.933  During  the  Civil  War  the 
Heald  residence  in  St.  Charles  County,  Missouri,  was  ransacked  from 
cellar  to  garret  by  a  band  of  Union  soldiers.  Among  other  things 
which  were  taken  by  the  marauders  was  Captain  Heald's  sword,  and 
Mrs.  Heald's  manuscript.  The  sword  was  recovered  by  a  negro  boy, 
but  the  manuscript  has  never  since  been  seen,  and  was  probably 
destroyed  at  the  time.934. 

Fortunately  we  have  an  indication  of  the  character  of  its  contents 
in  the  recital  by  Darius  Heald  of  his  mother's  story  as  he  remembered 
it  from  hearing  her  tell  it  "a  hundred  times."  His  narrative  has 
been  recorded  in  two  forms,  with  an  interval  of  many  years  between 
them.  In  1868  he  was  interviewed  by  Lyman  Draper,  the  famous 
collector  in  the  field  of  western  history,  who  at  the  time  was  on  one 
of  his  tours  in  search  of  historical  information.  Draper's  record  of 
the  interview  was,  however,  buried  away  among  his  papers,  and  has 
until  the  present  time  been  unknown  to  workers  in  the  field  of  Chicago 
history.935  In  ignorance,  therefore,  of  the  Draper  interview,  Darius 
Heald  was  again  interviewed,  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  by 
Joseph  Kirkland,  and  the  story  which  he  obtained  was  considered  by 
him  sufficiently  important  to  lead  him  to  write  his  book,  The  Chicago 
Massacre.™6  A  comparison  of  the  two  versions  affords  in  some  degree 
a  test  of  the  reliability  of  the  Darius  Heald  narrative.  It  reveals,  as 
might  be  expected,  discrepancies  in  matters  of  detail,  but  the  final 
impression  left  by  the  comparison  is  that  neither  Darius  Heald  nor 
his  mother  was  animated  by  any  conscious  purpose  to  deceive.  Pro- 
duced under  such  circumstances  as  have  already  been  described,  the 
limitations  of  the  narrative  are  obvious,  and  proper  caution  must  be 

»"  For  the  history  of  this  manuscript,  together  with  Darius  Heald's  recital  to  Kirkland 
of  his  mother's  story  of  the  massacre,  see  Magazine  of  American  History,  XXVIII,  111-22. 

»"  Curiously  enough,  if  Darius  Heald's  impression  is  correct,  it  was  a  Chicago  regiment 
which  perpetrated  the  act  of  destruction  (ibid.,  122). 

»*  The  narrative  is  printed  for  the  first  time  as  Appendix  V. 

«6The  entire  narrative  is  printed  in  the  Magazine  of  American  History,  XXVIII, 
in-22.  For  the  use  which  Kirkland  made  of  it  see  his  book,  The  Chicago  Massacre. 


382  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

preserved  and  due  allowance  for  error  made  in  the  use  of  it.  Subject 
to  these  limitations  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  valuable  contribution  to 
our  knowledge  of  the  massacre. 

We  may  now  direct  our  attention  to  the  Kinzie  family  narrative 
of  the  tragedy  as  told  by  Mrs.  Juliette  A.  Kinzie,  the  daughter-in-law 
of  John  Kinzie,  the  trader.  Like  the  narrative  of  Rebekah  Heald,  as 
told  by  her  son  Darius,  it  comes  down  to  us  in  two  forms.  Put  forth 
at  first  anonymously  in  pamphlet  form  in  1844,'"  it  appeared  twelve 
years  later  as  a  part  of  the  author's  book  Wau  Bun,  or  The  Early  Day 
in  the  Northwest.  It  was  published  at  a  time  when  the  consciousness 
of  Chicago's  future  destiny  was  already  dawning  on  its  citizens.  To 
a  developing  popular  interest  in  the  city's  past  was  joined  a  general 
lack  of  information  concerning  her  greatest  tragedy.  Mrs.  Kinzie's 
narrative,  claiming  to  be  based  on  the  testimony  of  eye-witnesses, 
spoke  with  assurance  and  precision  on  a  subject  about  which  all  others 
were  ignorant.  Its  statements  have  commonly  been  accepted  with- 
out question  or  criticism,  and  have  constituted  the  foundation,  and 
usually  the  superstructure  as  well,  of  almost  all  that  has  been  written 
upon  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre.  Sober  historians  and  fanciful 
novelists  alike  have  made  it  the  quarry  from  which  to  draw  the 
material  for  their  narratives.  Says  Moses  in  his  Illinois,  published 
in  1889:  "Without  exception,  historians  have  relied  for  their  facts 
in  regard  to  the  massacre  upon  the  account  given  of  the  event 
by  Mrs.  Juliette  A.  Kinzie  .  .  .  .";  and  although  he  points  out 
the  possibility  of  an  undue  criticism  of  Captain  Heald,  he  concludes 
that  its  statements  "bear  upon  their  face  the  appearance  of  truth 
and  fairness."938  While  it  is  true  that  some  dissent  from  the 
general  chorus  of  confidence  in  Mrs.  Kinzie's  narrative  has  been 
voiced,939  the  statement  made  by  Thwaites  in  1901  that  it  "has 
been  accepted  by  the  historians  of  Illinois  as  substantially  accurate, 

9"  Narrative  of  the  Massacre  at  Chicago,  August  15,  1812,  and  of  Some  Preceding 
Events  (Chicago,  1844). 

»»•  Moses,  Illinois,  Historical  and  Statistical,  I,  251-52. 

939  Notably  by  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities,  and  Kirkland,  Chicago  Massacre.  Carl 
Dilg  and  William  R.  Head,  two  recent  workers  in  the  local  antiquarian  and  historical  field, 
both  repudiated  it.  Both  men  were  unscientific  in  their  methods  and  animated  by  violent 
prejudices,  however.  Dilg's  papers  are  now  owned  by  the  Chicago  Historical  Society, 
while  most  of  Head's  were  destroyed  a  few  months  after  his  death  in  1910.  A  few  frag- 
ments are  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library,  while  a  considerably  larger  number  are 
still  in  the  possession  of  the  widow,  Mrs.  William  R.  Head,  of  Chicago. 


APPENDIX  II  383 

and  other  existing  accounts  are  generally  based  upon  this,"9*0  still 
stands  as  entirely  correct. 

A  critical  examination  of  Mrs.  Kinzie's  narrative  is,  then,  essential 
to  any  study  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre.  The  author  was  born 
at  Middletown,  Conn.,  in  September,  1806,  and  seems  to  have  enjoyed 
educational  advantages  unusual  for  girls  in  her  generation.  Her 
uncle,  Doctor  Alexander  Wolcott,  was  for  almost  a  dozen  years  prior 
to  his  death  in  1830  government  Indian  agent  at  Chicago.  Through 
the  circumstance  of  his  having  married  the  daughter  of  John  Kinzie, 
the  niece  became  acquainted  with  her  brother,  John  Harris  Kinzie, 
and  in  August,  1830,  the  young  couple  were  married.941  Shortly  after- 
ward the  bride  was  brought  by  her  husband  to  Wisconsin,  where  he 
held  the  position  of  sub-Indian  agent  at  Fort  Winnebago.  Here  they 
resided  until  1834,  when  Chicago  became  their  permanent  home. 
Mrs.  Kinzie,  therefore,  possessed  no  contemporary  or  personal  knowl- 
edge of  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  her  information  being  derived 
from  members  of  her  husband's  family  subsequent  to  her  marriage. 
Of  these  the  ones  best  qualified  to  give  her  first-hand  information  were 
her  mother-in-law  and  her  husband's  half-sister,  Mrs.  Helm.  Since 
the  older  woman  did  not  witness  the  actual  conflict,  for  this  part  of 
her  narrative  Mrs.  Kinzie  purports  to  quote  directly  the  words  of 
Mrs.  Helm,  though  it  is  evident  that  not  all  that  passes  for  direct 
quotation  from  the  latter  was  actually  derived  from  her. 

In  the  preface  to  the  pamphlet  narrative  of  1844  Mrs.  Kinzie 
explained  that  the  record  had  been  taken  many  years  since  from  the 
lips  of  eye-witnesses  of  the  events  described,  and  written  down  simply 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  to  her  children  "a  faithful  picture  of  the 
perilous  scenes  through  which  those  near  and  dear  to  them  had  been 
called  to  pass."  Her  record  of  the  massacre  is  thus  on  a  footing  of 
equality  with  that  of  Darius  Heald,  in  that  each  is  based  on  informa- 
tion derived  from  participants  in  the  events  attending  the  massacre. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  the  historian,  however,  it  possesses  at  least 
one  marked  advantage  over  the  latter.  The  Heald  narrative  was 
reduced  to  writing  for  the  first  time  in  1868,  over  half  a  century  after 
the  occurrence  of  the  events  described.  The  pamphlet  edition  of  the 

»«•  Kinzie,  Wau  Bun,  Caxton  Club  edition,  p.  xix. 

»«  A  sketch  of  the  early  life  of  Mrs.  Kinzie  by  her  daughter  is  appended  to  the  Rand- 
McNally  1903  edition  of  Wau  Bun. 


384  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Kinzie  narrative  was  published  in  1844,  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century 
earlier.  Aside  from  this  priority  in  point  of  time,  its  author  possessed, 
at  the  time  she  received  her  information,  the  conscious  purpose  of 
preserving  it  in  written  form,  if  not,  indeed,  of  publishing  it.  Unfor- 
tunately, however,  these  obvious  advantages  possessed  by  Mrs. 
Kinzie  are  offset  by  qualities  in  her  narrative  which  destroy,  in  large 
part,  the  historical  value  it  might  otherwise  have  possessed.  The 
evident  inability  of  the  author  to  state  the  facts  correctly  is  manifest 
throughout  the  work.  It  abounds  in  details  that  could  not  possibly 
have  been  remembered  by  Mrs.  Kinzie's  supposed  informants;  in 
others  that  could  not  have  been  known  to  them;  and  in  still  others 
that  could  never  have  occurred.  Undaunted  by  the  absence  of 
records,  Mrs.  Kinzie  repeats  speeches  and  dialogues  verbatim,  as  she, 
apparently,  conceived  they  should  have  been  recited.  Thus  the 
warning  speech  of  Black  Partridge,  the  order  of  Hull  for  the  evacua- 
tion, and  the  speech  of  the  Miami  chieftain  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fight  are  given  with  all  the  precision  of  stenographic  reports.  The 
Black  Partridge  incident  is  undoubtedly  founded  on  fact,  but  Mrs. 
Kinzie's  version  of  his  speech  is  just  as  certainly  the  product  of  her 
own  literary  imagination.942  That  Hull  sent  an  order  for  the  evacua- 
tion was,  of  course,  a  matter  of  common  knowledge;  that  Mrs.  Kinzie 
possessed  a  copy  of  it  or  could  pretend  to  report  it  literally  is  so 
improbable  that  even  though  the  original  order  had  never  been  recov- 
ered, we  might  reasonably  regard  her  version  of  it  as  unreliable. 
Concerning  the  speech  of  the  Miami  chief,  if  delivered  at  all,  it  could 
not  have  been  in  the  form  which  Mrs.  Kinzie  has  recorded;  nor  could 

»«« Mrs.  Kinzie's  version  of  this  speech,  which  has  frequently  been  quoted,  affords  a 
typical  illustration  of  her  practice  of  embellishing  the  narrative  with  details  wholly  imagi- 
nary. The  two  source  accounts  of  the  incident  both  agree  that  Black  Partridge  sought  out 
the  interpreter  in  order  to  deliver  his  warning.  According  to  Helm  the  two  waited  upon 
Heald,  to  whom  "the  Indian  gave  up  his  medal  &  told  Heald  to  beware  of  the  next  day 
that  the  Indians  would  destroy  him  &  his  men."  Thus  Helm,  writing  within  two  years  of 
the  event,  did  not  attempt  to  do  more  than  give  the  substance  of  Black  Partridge's  speech. 
Nor  could  he  possibly  have  done  otherwise,  if  there  is  any  truth  in  his  further  statement 
that  the  warning  was  concealed  from  the  other  officers  by  Heald  and  that  Wells  alone  knew 
of  it.  Despite  this  handicap  and  the  equally  serious  one  that  the  warning  was  uttered  by 
Black  Partridge  in  his  native  tongue,  Mrs.  Kinzie  was  able,  over  thirty  years  later,  to  report 
it  as  follows:  "  Father,  I  come  to  deliver  up  to  you  the  medal  I  wear.  It  was  given  me  by 
the  Americans,  and  I  have  long  worn  it  in  token  of  our  mutual  friendship.  But  our  young 
men  are  resolved  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  whites.  I  cannot  restrain  them 
and  I  will  not  wear  a  token  of  peace  while  I  am  compelled  to  act  as  an  enemy." 


APPENDIX  II  385 

Mrs.  Helm,  from  whom  it  purports  to  be  reported,  possibly  have 
heard  it  uttered. 

But  a  graver  fault  than  the  foregoing  vitiates  the  narrative.  The 
account  of  the  events  attending  the  massacre  is  highly  partisan,  mani- 
festing throughout  a  bitter  antipathy  to  Captain  Heald  and  a  corre- 
sponding idealization  of  Kinzie.  Probably  the  author  is  herself 
responsible  for  the  latter  feature;  the  responsibility  for  the  former 
must  be  shared  with  her  informants.  Their  representations  concern- 
ing the  massacre,  and  the  role  played  by  Captain  Heald  therein, 
would  obviously  be  similar  to  those  of  Lieutenant  Helm.  The  extent 
of  his  antipathy  for,  and  misrepresentations  of,  his  commander  will 
be  set  forth  presently.  It  is  probable  that  the  younger  Mrs.  Kinzie 
never  saw  his  narrative  of  the  massacre,  although  her  own  account 
repeats  many  of  the  statements  contained  in  it.  The  fact  of  their 
occurrence  in  the  earlier  narrative,  however,  does  not  of  itself  estab- 
lish their  reliability.  It  merely  shifts  the  responsibility  for  them  to 
Helm  and  compels  an  inquiry  as  to  the  character  of  his  narrative; 
and  the  result  of  such  an  inquiry  is  to  dispel  all  confidence  in  its 
reliability  and  in  the  candor  of  its  author. 

Finally  the  historical  value  of  Mrs.  Kinzie's  book  is  lessened  by 
the  author's  fondness  for  romance  and  for  dramatic  effect,  which  too 
often  overshadow  her  zeal  for  the  simple  truth.  It  was  this  charac- 
teristic of  the  book,  apparently,  which  led  Kirkland  to  conclude  that 
the  author  intended  it  to  be  regarded  as  a  romance  rather  than  as 
sober  history.  Whatever  the  truth  may  be  as  to  her  intention,  there 
can  be  no  gainsaying  Kirkland's  verdict  that  the  book  reads  like  a 
romance.  In  capacity  for  adventure  its  characters  rival  the  tradi- 
tional mediaeval  knight;  while  over  it  all  the  author  has  thrown  a 
glamor  of  romance  which  was  strikingly  absent  from  the  crass  mate- 
rialism of  life  on  the  northwestern  frontier  a  century  ago. 

It  had  been  arranged  by  Kinzie  that  Mrs.  Kinzie  and  her  children 
should  be  taken  across  the  lake  to  St.  Joseph  in  a  boat  in  charge  of 
the  servants  and  some  friendly  Indians.  Kinzie  himself  went  with 
the  troops.  The  boat  was  detained  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  how- 
ever, and  here  Mrs.  Kinzie  spent  the  time  during  the  battle  and 
massacre.  Mrs.  Helm  had  ridden  out  with  her  husband,  and  thus 
was  actually  present  in  the  battle.  She  soon  became  separated  from 
her  husband  and  apparently  was  with  the  rear  division  around  the 


386  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

wagons  during  the  fighting  there.  According  to  her  own  story  as 
told  in  Wau  Bun,  at  the  height  of  the  fighting  she  drew  aside  and 
with  philosophic  calmness  began  to  compose  herself  to  meet  her  end. 
While  thus  engaged  the  surgeon,  Van  Voorhis,  came  up,  wounded 
and  panic-stricken,  "  every  muscle  of  his  face  quivering  with  the 
agony  of  terror."  Oblivious  of  the  helplessness  and  inexperience  of 
the  young  woman,  he  frantically  sought  some  assurance  of  safety 
from  her.  While  the  battle  raged  around  she  strove  to  discourage 
his  hope  and  to  arouse  him  to  meet  his  fate  with  manly  firmness. 
She  even  pointed  out  the  soldierly  behavior  of  Ronan,  who,  though 
mortally  wounded  and  nearly  down,  was  fighting  with  desperation  on 
one  knee.  This  appeal  to  the  example  set  by  Ronan  was,  however, 
in  vain,  eliciting  from  the  surgeon  only  the  astonishing  rejoinder 
"with  a  convulsive  shudder,"  that  he  had  "no  terrors  of  the  future — 
he  is  an  unbeliever." 

The  remarkable  dialogue  was  interrupted  at  this  point  by  a  young 
Indian  who  attempted  to  tomahawk  Mrs.  Helm.  She  dodged  the 
blow,  and  closing  with  the  warrior  struggled  to  secure  his  knife. 
From  this  predicament  she  was  suddenly  snatched  by  Black  Par- 
tridge, who  bore  her  to  the  lake  and  plunged  her  into  the  water. 
Instead  of  drowning  her  as  she  expected,  he  held  her  in  a  position 
which  permitted  her  to  breathe,  and  she  soon  discovered  that  he  had 
taken  this  way  of  saving  her  from  the  tomahawk.  When  the  firing 
died  down  he  bore  her  to  the  shore  and  up  the  sand  bank,  whence  she 
was  conducted  back  to  the  Pottawatomie  camp  west  of  the  fort  on 
the  south  side  of  the  river. 

Such  is  Mrs.  Helm's  narrative  of  her  experience  in  the  massacre 
itself,  as  reported  by  Mrs.  Kinzie.  It  is  evident  that  only  a  portion 
of  the  tragedy  came  under  her  own  personal  observation,  although  in 
Wau  Bun  all  the  remainder  of  the  narrative,  many  pages  in  length, 
is  represented  as  being  quoted  directly  from  her.  If  any  portion  of 
the  Wau  Bun  account  of  the  massacre  is  worthy  of  credence  it  should 
be  this  which  recites  Mrs.  Helm's  personal  experience.  Unfortunately 
the  credibility  of  even  this  portion  is  dubious.  That  the  actor  should 
emphasize  her  own  part  in  the  affair  is,  of  course,  only  natural.  That 
the  dialogue  with  Van  Voorhis  occurred  as  represented  is,  under  all 
the  circumstances,  simply  incredible.  Unfortunately  we  have  no 
other  record  of  how  Van  Voorhis  met  his  fate,  and  so  for  nearly  three- 


APPENDIX  II  387 

quarters  of  a  century  his  memory  has  been  blackened  by  this  cruel 
tale,  thoughtlessly  taken  up  and  repeated  in  the  numerous  accounts 
of  the  massacre  based  on  that  contained  in  Wau  Bun.  The  little  we 
know  of  Van  Voorhis  tends  to  the  belief  that  he  was  a  young  man  of 
more  than  usual  spirit  and  breadth  of  vision.  His  friend  and  college 
classmate,  Surgeon  Cooper,  testified  to  his  personal  worth  and  bravery, 
and  to  the  end  of  his  life  protested  that  the  Wau  Bun  version  of  his 
death  was  a  cruel  slander.943  More  significant  is  the  testimony  of  the 
fragment  of  a  single  letter  of  Van  Voorhis,  of  which  a  copy  has  been 
preserved.  Writing  from  his  lonely  station  in  October,  1811,  he  thus 
foretold  the  future  destiny  of  this  region:  "In  my  solitary  walks  I 
contemplate  what  a  great  and  powerful  republic  will  yet  arise  hi  this 
new  world.  Here,  I  say,  will  be  the  seat  of  millions  yet  unborn;  here 
the  asylum  of  oppressed  millions  yet  to  come.  How  composedly 
would  I  die  could  I  be  resuscitated  at  that  bright  era  of  American 
greatness — an  era  which  I  hope  will  announce  the  tidings  of  death 
to  fell  superstition  and  dread  tyranny."944  The  man  who  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two  could  pen  these  lines  is  the  only  one  of  the  whites 
present  on  the  day  of  massacre  who  is  represented  as  having  behaved 
like  a  poltroon  and  a  coward. 

The  story  of  the  rescue  of  Mrs.  Helm  by  Black  Partridge  has  come 
to  be  regarded  as  a  classic  in  the  early  history  of  Chicago.  It  has 
been  made  the  dominant  theme  of  the  massacre  monument,  and  has 
been  accepted  without  question  by  practically  all  who  have  written 
upon  the  massacre.  Yet  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  event 
as  described  by  Mrs.  Kinzie  in  Wau  Bun  ever  actually  occurred.  That 
Black  Partridge  saved  Mrs.  Helm  is  probably  true,  but  that  the  affair 
possessed  the  romantic  aspect  which  it  has  come  to  assume  in  the 
popular  mind,  or  that  Mrs.  Helm  distinguished  herself  by  her  heroism 
seems  unlikely.  * 

The  evidence  in  support  of  this  conclusion  is  largely  negative. 
Lieutenant  Helm's  labored  narrative,  written  in  1814,  contains  no 
mention  of  the  Black  Partridge  rescue,  or  of  any  heroism  displayed 
by  his  wife.  Concerning  her  deportment  in  the  massacre  he  simply 
records  that,  having  believed  her  slain,  he  was  astonished  on  coming 
to  the  Indian  camp  to  see  her  "sitting  among  the  squaws  crying." 

»«  Wilson,  Chicago  from  1803  to  1812. 

»«  Van  Voorhis,  Ancestry  of  Wm.  Roe  Van  Voorhis,  144. 


388  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

In  1820  the  careful  and  scholarly  Schoolcraft  passed  through  Chicago. 
He  gives  us  an  account  of  the  massacre  which  he  derived  chiefly  from 
John  Kinzie,  whose  guest  he  was  for  several  days.945  He  describes, 
among  other  things,  the  duel  to  the  death  between  Sergeant  Hayes 
and  an  Indian.  The  story  is  curious  and  interesting  enough  to  justify 
him  in  recording  and  commenting  upon  it.  But  it  is  not  more  curious 
and  thrilling  than  that  of  the  Black  Partridge  rescue  of  Mrs.  Helm, 
Kinzie's  stepdaughter.  Why  did  Kinzie  relate  the  one  and  omit  to 
relate  the  other  to  Schoolcraft?  Or  if  Schoolcraft,  who  is  always 
careful  to  make  note  of  anything  curious  or  unusual,  was  told  of  the 
rescue  story,  why  did  he  fail  to  record  it  ?  Was  there  in  fact  no  such 
rescue,  or  is  the  omission  due  to  its  commonplaceness  ? 

We  may  now  consider  the  narrative  of  Lieutenant  Helm,  sent  to 
Augustus  B.  Woodward,  of  Detroit,  in  November,  i8i5.'«6  Unfor- 
tunately it  adds  but  little  to  our  knowledge  of  the  massacre — why 
will  be  apparent  upon  analysis.  It  is  a  partisan  document  for  which 
the  writer  expects  court  martial.  Its  purpose  is  evidently  to  dis- 
credit Captain  Heald.  Helm's  letter  to  Woodward  shows  that  he 
had  spent  some  time  in  preparing  it.  Yet  the  manuscript  contains 
many  erasures  and  alterations.  It  is  strangely  inaccurate  with 
respect  to  dates,  and  as  strangely  precise  in  certain  details  not  likely 
to  be  noticed  or  remembered  on  a  battle  field.  It  makes  Hull's  order 
arrive  one  day  too  early,  the  eighth  of  August.  It  also  makes 
Winnemac  advise  Heald,  through  Kinzie's  agency,  to  evacuate  at 
once,  the  next  day  if  possible,  and  urge  him  to  change  the  usual  route 
to  Fort  Wayne.  Wells  is  represented  as  arriving  on  the  twelfth  with 
the  report  that  the  Indians  about  Fort  Wayne  are  hostile  and  will 
probably  interrupt  the  troops  on  the  march. 

On  the  day  of  his  arrival  Wells  held  a  council  with  the  Indians  to 
the  amount  of  "  500  warriors  179  women  and  children,"  as  a  result  of 
which  he  gave  the  opinion  that  they  also  were  hostile  and  would 
attack  the  garrison  on  the  march.  On  this  date,  August  12,  Helm 
asserts  that  the  fort  had  two  hundred  stand  of  arms,  six  thousand 
pounds  of  powder,  four  pieces  of  artillery,  an  adequate  supply  of 
shot  and  lead,  and  three  months'  supply  of  Indian  corn,  besides  two 

**  Schoolcraft,  Narrative  Journal  of  Travels  from  Detroit  ...  to  the  Sources  of  the 
Mississippi  River  in  the  Year  1820,  300-03. 

•*  For  the  narrative,  together  with  Helm's  letter  to  Woodward,  June  6,  1814,  announ- 
cing it,  see  Appendix  VI. 


APPENDIX  II  389 

hundred  head  of  honied  cattle  and  twenty-seven  barrels  of  salt.  In 
addition,  three  months'  provisions  had  been  expended  between 
August  seventh  and  twelfth,  how  or  why  the  writer  does  not  say. 
After  the  survey  had  been  made,  Kinzie  (here  Kinzie  is  erased  in  the 
manuscript  and  Wells  substituted) — Wells  demanded  of  Heald  if  he 
intended  to  evacuate,  and  received  an  affirmative  reply.  Helm  and 
Kinzie  now  urged  Wells  to  ask  Heald  to  destroy  the  ammunition  and 
liquor.  Wells  declined,  but  offered  to  accompany  Kinzie  and  Helm. 
To  their  representations  Heald  replied  that  he  had  received  positive 
orders  to  deliver  to  the  Indians  "all  the  Public  Property  of  whatso- 
ever nature/'  that  it  was  bad  policy  to  tell  a  lie  to  an  Indian,  and  that 
such  a  crime  might  irritate  the  natives  and  result  in  the  destruction  of 
his  men.  Kinzie  thereupon  offered  to  assume  the  responsibility  by 
fabricating  an  order  from  Hull;  to  this  scheme  Heald  assented; 
Kinzie  wrote  an  order  "as  if  from  genL  Hull"  and  gave  it  to  Heald, 
and  the  arms  and  ammunition  were  destroyed. 

The  account  of  the  battle  and  massacre  then  follows.  It  contains 
some  information  of  value,  but  unfortunately  it  is  mingled  with  much 
that  is  evidently  untrue.  The  attack  began  at  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  at  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  fort.  In  a  few 
minutes  all  but  ten  of  the  men  were  killed  or  wounded.  Helm  called 
upon  his  men  to  follow  him  to  the  prairie,  then  moved  forward  under 
heavy  fire  one  hundred  and  five  paces,  when  he  wheeled  to  the  left 
to  "avoid  being  shot  hi  the  back."  This  careful  enumeration,  while 
under  heavy  fire,  of  the  exact  number  of  paces  taken  by  the  troops 
can  hardly  convince  the  student  of  the  writer's  sincerity.  Waiving 
this  point,  however,  it  is  apparent  that  the  Indians  on  Helm's  flank 
were  gaining  his  rear  and  he  wheeled  to  the  south  to  intercept  them. 
The  Indians  now  stopped  firing  "and  nevour  more  renewed  it." 
Helm  at  once  ordered  the  men  to  reload  their  guns.  He  now  dis- 
covered Captain  Heald,  "for  the  first  time  to  my  knowledge  during 
the  battle.  He  was  coming  from  towards  the  Indians  and  to  my 
great  surprise  they  nevour  offered  to  fire  on  him,"  The  inference 
which  the  writer  wishes  to  convey  is  plain,  but  it  is  also  evident  that 
Heald  had  been  engaged  in  battle  farther  south,  and  that  he  had 
already  taken  steps  to  stop  further  slaughter  by  bargaining  for  sur- 
render. A  futile  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  soldiers  to  charge  was 
followed  by  more  parleying  on  Heald's  part.  Passing  over  the  details, 


390  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Helm  represents  that  while  Heald  was  agreeing  with  Black  Bird  upon 
the  terms  of  surrender  he  himself  with  the  men  who  were  left  fell  back 
to  an  elevation  near  at  hand.  For  a  reason  hinted  at  but  not  explained 
the  men  now  regarded  Helm  as  their  commander.  Heald  repeatedly 
inquires  of  his  subordinate  what  he  intends  to  do.  The  men  on  the 
other  hand  beg  him  not  to  surrender.  He  urges  them  not  to  be  uneasy 
for  he  has  already  done  his  best  for  them  and  will  not  surrender  unless 
they  are  willing. 

Even  the  hostile  savages  now  became  aware  of  the  quiet  usurpa- 
tion of  the  command  by  Helm  during  the  heat  of  the  battle.  The 
half-breed  interpreter  who  had  conducted  the  negotiations  between 
Captain  Heald  and  Black  Bird  came  running  to  warn  Helm  not  to 
surrender  until  a  general  council  of  the  Indians  had  agreed  to  the 
terms.  Helm  replied  that  he  "had  no  Ideah  of  surrender."  The 
interpreter  now  collected  the  Indians  and  after  haranguing  them 
returned  with  the  promise  that  they  would  spare  the  lives  of  Helm 
and  his  men  if  they  would  surrender.  He  also  informed  them  that 
the  lives  of  Kinzie  and  some  of  the  women  and  children  had  already 
been  spared.  This  last  news  enlivened  Helm  and  his  men,  for  they 
"well  knew  Mr.  Kinzie  stood  higher  than  anny  man  in  that  country" 
among  the  Indians,  and  that  "he  might  be  the  means  of  saving  us 
from  utter  destruction,  which  afterwards  proved  to  be  the  case." 

There  follows  a  description  of  the  scene  of  the  massacre  at  the 
wagons  which  filled  Helm  with  horror.  There  are  a  number  of  other 
details  that  need  not  be  noticed  here.  The  document  is  of  great 
interest  and  of  considerable  value,  but  its  partisan  character  is  evident 
throughout.  In  his  desire  to  cast  discredit  upon  Captain  Heald, 
Helm  played  fast  and  loose  with  the  facts  of  the  situation.  The 
length  to  which  he  was  willing  to  go  in  the  effort  to  impugn  Heald's 
judgment  is  perhaps  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  story  of  the  forged 
order  for  the  destruction  of  the  arms  and  ammunition.  Even  in  the 
absence  of  positive  evidence,  the  inherent  improbability  of  the  tale 
is  such  as  to  arouse  grave  suspicion  of  its  validity.  The  discovery  of 
Hull's  order  for  the  evacuation  changes  this  suspicion  to  certainty. 
Since  Heald  was  expressly  enjoined  to  destroy  the  surplus  arms  and 
ammunition  the  whole  tale  concerning  the  forged  order  is  obviously 
a  sheer  invention.  Further  misstatements  occur  in  connection  with 
the  account  of  the  supplies  on  hand  at  the  time  of  the  evacuation. 


APPENDIX  II  391 

Instead  of  two  hundred  stand  of  arms,  the  last  Fort  Dearborn  inspec- 
tion return  shows  that  there  were  approximately  one-third  this 
number;947  and  the  number  of  surplus  muskets  destroyed  did  not 
exceed  half  a  dozen.  Instead  of  twenty-seven  barrels  of  salt  there 
were,  according  to  a  letter  of  Heald,  written  six  weeks  after  the 
massacre,  but  seventeen  barrels.948  That  there  were  seventy  muskets 
instead  of  two  hundred,  and  seventeen  barrels  of  salt  in  place  of 
twenty-seven,  is  of  no  particular  consequence,  for  in  each  case  the 
supply  was  more  than  sufficient.  But  the  inaccuracy  of  Helm's 
statements  is  of  some  significance,  as  affording  evidence  of  the  untrust- 
worthiness  of  his  narrative,  even  in  matters  concerning  which  no 
adequate  motive  for  misrepresentation  is  apparent.  The  connection 
between  Helm's  narrative  of  the  massacre  and  that  of  Mrs.  Kinzie  in 
the  pages  of  Wau  Bun  has  already  been  pointed  out.  The  two  pro- 
ceed from  a  common  source,  and  have  a  common  bias  against  Captain 
Heald.  Helm  was  the  original  traducer  of  Heald.  Almost  a  hundred 
years  elapsed  before  his  narrative  appeared  in  print,  and  Mrs.  Kinzie 
was  probably  unaware  of  its  existence.  Notwithstanding  this  its 
spirit  is  faithfully  reflected  in  the  latter's  account,  and  through  its 
agency  passed  into  the  literature  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre. 
Thus  the  partisan  statements  of  a  bitter  enemy,  who  did  not  hesitate 
to  pervert  the  truth  in  order  to  discredit  his  commander,  taken  up 
and  reproduced  by  others,  have  been  potent  to  blast  the  reputation 
of  Heald  to  the  present  time,  a  century  after  the  massacre.949 

MT  Heald  Papers,  Draper  Collection,  U,  Vol.  VIII. 

»<•  Heald  to  Augustus  Porter,  contractor  for  the  western  posts,  September  26,  1812. 
MS  owned  by  the  author. 

»«» The  issues  raised  by  Helm's  account  of  the  massacre  render  it  a  matter  of  regret 
that  but  little  authentic  information  is  extant  concerning  him.  Judge  Woodward,  in  his 
letter  to  Proctor  concerning  the  Chicago  captives,  speaks  highly  of  Helm  (Appendix  VII) ; 
there  is  evidence,  however,  which  tends  to  invalidate  Woodward's  estimate  of  Helm's 
character.  The  following  sheds  some  light  upon  the  characters  respectively  of  Heald  and 
his  detractor.  Heald  was  twice  wounded  in  the  battle  of  August  15,  receiving  a  bullet  in 
the  hip  and  another  through  the  arm.  The  former  wound  never  ceased  to  trouble  him 
(Physician's  certificates,  Heald  Papers,  in  Draper  Collection),  and  he  carried  the  bullet 
which  caused  it  to  his  grave.  Helm  received  a  slight  flesh  wound  in  the  heel,  from  which 
he  recovered  so  quickly  that  within  six  weeks  Forsyth  reported  him  "in  good  health  and 
spirits"  (letter  of  Thomas  Forsyth  to  John  Kinzie,  September  24,  1812,  printed  in  Maga- 
zine of  History,  XV,  89;  see  also,  infra,  letter  of  Heald  to  B.  Roberts,  December  i,  1825). 
Heald  refrained  from  applying  for  a  pension,  and  when  one  was  procured  for  him  by  two 
of  his  friends  without  his  knowledge,  the  latter,  in  breaking  the  news  to  him,  thought  it 


392  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

After  the  sources  of  information  derived  from  the  two  surviving 
officers  and  their  wives  follow  a  number  of  reports  of  distinctly  lesser 
importance  which  found  their  way  into  the  newspapers  of  the  time. 
Several  of  these  were  preserved  from  oblivion  by  being  reprinted 
during  the  few  weeks  following  the  massacre  in  that  general  repository 
of  information,  Niks'  Register.  The  number  of  such  reports  which 
require  consideration  here  is  small.  The  news  of  the  fall  of  Fort 
Dearborn  was  borne  to  the  nearest  American  settlements  more  rapidly 
than  might,  hi  view  of  all  the  circumstances,  have  been  expected.  As 
early  as  August  28  a  report  of  it  was  published  in  the  Western  Courier, 
of  Louisville.950  It  consisted  of  an  extract  from  a  letter  received  at 
Louisville  from  an  officer  of  the  army  who  apparently  was  at  or  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fort  Wayne.  It  stated  correctly  enough  the  leading  facts 
that  the  fort  had  been  evacuated,  the  garrison  attacked  after  marching 
"about  one  mile,"  and  that  Heald  had  surrendered  on  receiving 

worth  while  to  urge  him  not  to  decline  it,  and  to  suggest  that  he  bestow  it  upon  his  children 
in  case  he  felt  any  delicacy  about  accepting  it  himself  (supra,  note  629).  It  is  apparent 
from  the  letter  of  Heald  to  B.  Roberts,  December  i,  1825  (printed  below),  that  when  Helm 
came  to  apply  for  a  pension  he  not  only  made  what  he  might  of  his  wound,  but  also  pre- 
ferred a  claim  against  the  government  for  money  advanced  by  him  from  his  own  funds  to 
purchase  articles  for  the  troops  at  Chicago.  This  claim  Heald  denominated  "entirely 
false  &  without  the  least  foundation  imaginable";  and  further  that  any  vouchers  which 
Helm  might  submit  in  support  of  his  claim  were  fraudulent.  Heald's  emphatic  condemna- 
tion of  Helm's  assertions  and  claim  find  support  in  what  we  know  of  Helm's  financial 
situation  at  the  time.  See  on  this  supra,  p.  365.  In  view  of  this  it  seems  unlikely,  without 
regard  to  Heald's  testimony,  that  he  was  in  a  position  to  advance  money  to  buy  articles 

for  the  soldiers. 

[Letter  of  Heald  to  B.  Roberts] 

ST.  CHARLES  MISSOURI 

i  December  1825. 

DEAR  SIR,  I  have  reed,  your  Letter  from  Russellsville  on  the_  subject  of  Capt  Helms  claims  on 
the  Government.  As  to  his  wound  reed,  at  Chicago  I  know  nothing  that  can  be  of  service  to  him 
in  order  that  he  may  procure  a  pension,  all  that  I  can  say  of  my  own  knowledge  is  that  I  discovered 
he  walked  a  little  lame,  soon  after  the  action  was  over,  but  I  had  no  opportunity  to  find  out  the  cause 
of  it,  before  we  were  seperated.  I  was  told  about  10  days  after  the  action  by  Mr.  Kinzie,  the  stepfather 
of  Mrs.  Helm,  that  Capt.  Helm's  wound  was  very  trifling  &  could  not  injure  him.  I  have  since  seen 
Mr.  Thos.  Forsyth  with  whom  Capt.  Helm  resided  for  several  mo[n]ths  immediately  after  the  action 
and  he  told  me  that  Capt.  Helms  wound  was  of  no  consequence,  &  that  it  appeared  to  be  nothing  more 
than  a  small  flesh  wound  in  one  of  his  heals  &  did  not  disable  him  in  the  least. 

The  statement  he  made  to  you  respecting  the  artides  he  says  he  purchased  for  the  troops  & 
advanced  the  money  out  of  his  own  funds  to  pay  for  them  is  entirely  false  &  without  the  least  founda- 
tion imaginable.  And  If  he  has  any  vouchers  to  support  the  claim,  depend  upon  it  Sir,  they  are 
fraudulent. 

Should  you  wish  for  my  deposition  stating  my  own  knowledge  of  Capt.  Helms 

Should  you  wish  for  my  deposition  to  support  Capt.  Helms  claim  for  a  Pension,  I  am  perfectly 
willing  to  give  it,  but  I  can  say  nothing  more  than  I  have  said  in  this  letter  of  my  own  knowledge. 
THE  HONBL.  B.ROBERTS 

Member  of  Congress. 

The  original  manuscript  from  which  the  foregoing  is  taken  is  the  copy  of  the  letter 
retained  by  Heald,  and  is  owned  by  his  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Wright  Johnson,  of  Ruther- 
ford, N.J. 

"•  A  copy  of  this  paper  is  owned  by  the  Chicago  Historical  Society. 


APPENDIX  II  393 

assurances  of  mercy  for  the  garrison.  It  erred,  however,  in  reporting 
Heald  and  his  wife  among  the  slain,  as  well  as  all  but  three  of  Wells's 
Miamis.  From  these  three  survivors,  it  was  stated,  the  information 
had  been  gained. 

In  similar  fashion  the  news  of  the  massacre  was  carried  to  Detroit, 
now  in  the  hands  of  the  British,  about  the  first  of  September.  The 
first  printed  account  from  this  source  is  found  in  NUes'  Register  for 
October  3,  copied  from  an  earlier  number  of  the  Buffalo  Gazette. 
Considering  the  source  of  the  information,  the  brief  narrative  corre- 
sponds more  closely  to  the  facts  as  we  know  them  than  might  be 
expected.  A  Pottawatomie  chief  had  brought  the  news  to  Detroit, 
from  which  place  it  had  been  carried  eastward  by  the  British  warship, 
the  "Queen  Charlotte";  a  flag  of  truce  sent  ashore  at  Fort  Erie  con- 
veyed the  news  to  the  Americans  there,  from  which  place,  presumably, 
it  was  carried  to  Buffalo.  The  account  places  the  number  of  survivors 
at  ten  or  twelve,  and,  like  the  Louisville  report,  includes  Captain 
Heald  among  the  slain.951 

More  important  than  either  of  the  foregoing  is  the  report  which 
appeared  in  the  Missouri  Gazette  of  September  19,  1812.  It  repre- 
sents952 Captain  Wells  as  bringing  the  order  from  Hull  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  stores  among  the  Indians  and  the  evacuation  of  the  fort. 
Heald  prepared  to  comply  with  the  order,  but  thought  prudent  to 
destroy  alt  the  powder  and  whisky  before  distributing  the  goods.  The 
Indians  suspected  this,  overheard  the  staving-in  of  the  powder  kegs, 
and  charged  Wells  with  the  fact.  He  denied  it,  however,  and  the 
goods  were  distributed  to  about  eight  hundred  Indians.  Signs  of 
discontent  were  already  manifest  among  the  Indians  when  on  the 
fourteenth  an  Indian  runner  arrived  with  a  large  red  belt.  He  had 
been  sent  by  Main  Poc,  the  inveterate  enemy  of  the  Americans,  who 
lived  on  the  Kankakee  but  who  was  now  fighting  with  Tecumseh's 
forces  near  Maiden.  The  message  the  runner  bore  acquainted  the 
Indians  around  Fort  Dearborn  with  the  British  successes  and  Hull's 
predicament  on  the  Detroit  frontier;  it  added  that  a  vessel  would  be 
dispatched  in  a  few  days  for  Chicago  with  goods  and  ammunition  for 
the  Indians,  and  urged  them  to  strike  the  Americans  immediately. 

»s>  For  other  early  newspaper  reports  of  the  massacre  see  Hurlbut,  Chicago  Antiquities, 
175-77- 

"'  I  have  not  had  access  to  the  paper  itself,  but  have  made  use  of  the  copy  of  the 
article  made  by  Lyman  C.  Draper,  in  the  Draper  Collection,  S,  XXVI,  76. 


394  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

This  message,  added  to  the  discontent  over  the  destruction  of  the 
powder  and  whisky,  precipitated  the  attack.  The  next  day,  about 
ten  o'clock,  the  troops,  fifty-four  in  number,  with  ten  citizens,  nine 
women,  and  eighteen  children,  evacuated  the  fort.  After  they  had 
gone  about  a  mile  they  were  attacked  by  about  four  hundred  Indians, 
and  a  general  slaughter  ensued.  Thirty  soldiers,  including  the  doctor 
and  the  ensign,  all  of  the  citizens,  two  women,  and  twelve  children 
were  torn  to  pieces.  The  heart  of  Wells  was  torn  out  and  divided 
among  the  different  bands.  In  the  midst  of  the  carnage  Mrs.  Heald 
had  sunk  on  the  ground  and  an  Indian  had  a  war  club  raised  to  drive 
into  her  head,  when  she  was  rescued  by  a  young  Frenchman  who 
purchased  her  with  a  mule.  Heald's  captors  gave  him  his  liberty, 
contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  other  savages.  The  commander  and 
his  wife  were  given  protection  in  the  house  of  a  trader,  where  their 
wounds  were  dressed,  and  at  the  time  of  the  report  they  were  in 
process  of  recovery. 

This  early  report  is  worthy  of  notice  for  several  reasons.  It  is 
notably  accurate  in  some  respects,  and  as  notably  incorrect  in  others. 
The  figures  given  for  the  participants  in  the  massacre  and  for  the  slain 
are  surprisingly  accurate  for  so  early  an  unofficial  report.  On  the 
other  hand,  while  the  order  for  the  evacuation  is  given  with  a  fair 
degree  of  accuracy,  the  account  of  its  transmission  to  Fort  Dearborn 
and  the  date  of  its  arrival  is  entirely  wrong.  It  is  to  be  noted  that 
thus  early  to  the  destruction  of  the  ammunition  and  liquor  is  ascribed 
a  large  degree  of  responsibility  for  the  massacre,  and  that  a  version  of 
the  ransoming  of  Mrs.  Heald  with  a  mule  appears.  It  is  evident  that 
this  report  must  have  come  from  someone  familiar  with  the  facts  con- 
cerning the  massacre.  Although  it  is  not  susceptible  of  proof,  the 
opinion  may  be  hazarded  that  this  person  was  Thomas  Forsyth,  of 
Peoria,  Kinzie's  half-brother.  He  came  to  Chicago  the  day  after  the 
massacre,  and  started  to  return  to  Peoria  a  few  days  later.953  He  was 
active  and  enterprising,  and  not  long  afterwards  was  acting  as  an 
agent  of  the  government  among  the  Illinois  River  Indians.  He  was 
well  known  at  St.  Louis,  and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  he  would  have 
forwarded  thither  at  the  earliest  opportunity  an  account  of  what  had 
occurred  at  Chicago. 

Another  report  of  the  massacre,  published  in  Niks'  Register  May 
8,  1813,  requires  more  extended  consideration.  It  purports  to  be  an 

•"Letter  of  Forsyth  to  Heald,  January  2,  1813,  supra,  note  632. 


APPENDIX  II  395 

extract  from  a  letter  of  Walter  Jordan,  "a  non-commissioned  officer 
of  the  Regulars  at  Fort  Wayne,"  to  his  wife,  October  19,  1812.  The 
writer  claims  to  have  been  a  member  of  Wells's  relief  expedition,  and 
thus  to  have  been  a  participant  in  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre. 
According  to  the  letter  Wells  left  Fort  Wayne  August  i,  accompanied 
by  Jordan  and  one  hundred  "Confute"  Indians  to  escort  Heald  on 
his  retreat  from  Chicago  to  Fort  Wayne,  "a  distance  of  150  miles." 
Wells  reached  Chicago  August  10,  and  on  the  fifteenth  all  was  in 
readiness  for  an  immediate  march,  all  the  property  that  could  not  be 
removed  having  been  burned.  The  force  which  evacuated  the  fort 
consisted  of  "Capt.  Wells,  myself  and  100  Confute  Indians,  Capt. 
Heald's  100  men,  10  women,  and  20  children — in  all  232."  After  a 
ten-minute  conflict,  in  the  course  of  which  the  "Confute"  allies 
deserted  to  the  enemy,  all  but  fifteen  of  the  whites  were  killed.  But 
"thanks  be  to  God,"  Jordan  was  numbered  among  the  survivors. 
If  his  escape  was  as  miraculous  as  the  narrative  represents  it  to  have 
been,  his  thankfulness  was  not  inappropriate.  First  the  feather  was 
shot  off  his  cap,  then  the  epaulet  from  his  shoulder,  and  finally  the 
handle  from  his  sword.  Unwilling,  apparently,  to  tempt  Providence 
further,  Jordan  now  surrendered  to  "four  savage  rascals."  His  good 
fortune  did  not  desert  him,  however;  the  Confute  chief,  taking  him 
by  the  hand,  assured  him  his  life  would  be  spared,  but  invited  him 
to  "come  and  see  what  we  will  do  with  your  Captain."  Leading  the 
way  to  Wells  they  cut  off  his  head  and  put  it  on  a  pole,  took  out  his 
heart,  and,  having  divided  it  among  the  chiefs,  "ate  it  up  raw." 
After  this  the  fifteen  survivors  were  parceled  out  among  the  victors. 
The  band  to  whom  Jordan  fell  promised,  if  he  would  stay  with  them, 
to  make  a  chief  of  him;  if  he  tried  to  escape  they  would  burn  him 
alive.  Despite  this  alternative,  having  gained  their  confidence  with 
a  "fine  story,"  Jordan  made  his  escape  and  reached  Fort  Wayne  on 
August  26,  two  days  before  it  was  blockaded  by  the  Indians. 

If  Jordan  was  in  fact  a  member  of  Wells's  party  and  this  is  an 
authentic  account  of  the  massacre  by  an  eye-witness,  it  must  be 
regarded  as  one  of  our  most  valuable  sources  of  information.  Its 
early  date,  the  detailed  description  of  events,  and  the  precise  enumera- 
tion of  the  forces  engaged,  combine  with  its  first-hand  character  to 
give  it  this  rank.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  narrative  is  not  to  be 
accorded  this  high  estimate,  it  must  be  dismissed  as  a  mendacious  and 


396  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

worthless  fabrication.    The  circumstances  of  the  case  render  the 
assumption  of  any  middle  ground  between  these  positions  impossible. 

Turning  to  Jordan's  letter,  even  a  casual  inspection  compels  the 
adoption  of  the  latter  position.  Waiving  the  question  whether  such 
a  person  as  Walter  Jordan  ever  in  fact  existed,  the  complete  silence 
of  all  other  sources  as  to  his  presence  in  Wells's  party  and  at  the 
Chicago  massacre  is  enough  to  rouse  grave  suspicion  concerning  the 
truth  of  his  story.  His  misstatements  concerning  the  expedition  of 
Wells  and  the  massacre  itself  change  this  suspicion  into  certainty. 
Neither  lapse  of  time  nor  second-hand  information  can  be  urged  in 
extenuation  of  his  false  statements  about  the  number  of  Wells's 
followers  and  of  Heald's  party.  Aside  from  this  consideration,  the 
misstatements  as  to  the  time  of  Wells's  trip,  the  tribe  to  which  his 
followers  belonged,  and  the  distance  from  Fort  Wayne  to  Chicago 
can  hardly  be  explained  on  any  other  hypothesis  than  that  of  deliber- 
ate fabrication.  Surely  "a  non-commissioned  officer  of  the  Regulars 
at  Fort  Wayne"  would  not  substitute  for  the  Miamis  a  purely  imagi- 
nary tribe  of  Indians,  having  no  existence  outside  the  pages  of  his 
letter.  A  more  Falstaffian  tale  than  that  of  Jordan's  miraculous 
escape  from  death,  or  a  more  improbable  one  than  that  detailing  the 
circumstances  attending  the  death  of  Wells  would  be  difficult  to 
imagine.  Further  refutation  of  the  narrative  is  unnecessary,  nor 
would  it  deserve  the  space  that  has  already  been  devoted  to  it  but  for 
the  fact  that  some  have  been  misled  into  a  belief  in  its  reliability. 

The  correspondence  of  Judge  Woodward  of  Detroit  with  General 
Proctor  relative  to  the  survivors  of  the  massacre  constitutes  a  source 
of  information  of  the  highest  quality.954  With  the  massacre  itself, 
however,  it  deals  only  incidentally,  being  limited  to  a  consideration  of 
the  survivors  and  the  means  of  rescuing  them  from  captivity.  Wood- 
ward was  perhaps  the  most  prominent  citizen  of  Detroit  and  Michigan 
Territory,  noted  for  his  eccentricity  and  his  ability.  On  the  arrival 
of  Captain  Heald  and  his  wife  and  Sergeant  Griffith  at  Detroit  early 
in  October,  Woodward  set  himself  the  task  of  gaining  all  the  informa- 
tion they  could  give  him  concerning  the  losses  in  the  battle  and  the 
survivors  of  the  massacre,  and  this  information  he  incorporated  a 
few  days  later  in  a  vigorous  letter  to  Proctor,  the  British  commander 
at  Detroit,  appealing  to  him  to  take  all  the  measures  in  his  power  to 

»S4  For  Woodward's  letter  to  Proctor,  October  7,  1812,  see  Appendix  VII. 


APPENDIX  II  397 

recover  the  unfortunate  captives.  It  is  probable  that  Heald  and 
Griffith  could  not  speak  with  entire  accuracy  concerning  the  losses 
sustained  and  the  number  of  these  survivors,  but  they  were  of  course 
able  to  give  Woodward  valuable  information  on  the  subject;  and  his 
letter  to  Proctor  constitutes  one  of  our  most  valuable  sources  of 
information  concerning  it. 

An  account  of  the  massacre  drawn  in  large  part  from  the  same 
source  as  Woodward's  information,  but  written  a  few  years  later,  is 
contained  in  McAfee's  History  of  the  Late  War,  published  in  1816. 
McAfee  was  a  Kentuckian  and  himself  a  soldier  in  the  war,  having 
served  as  an  officer  in  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson. 
Because  of  this,  and  because  his  information  was  largely  gathered  from 
participants  in  the  events  described,  his  history  possesses  much  of 
the  flavor  of  a  first-hand  narrative.  McAfee  gives  a  short  account 
of  the  destruction  of  Fort  Dearborn,  based  on  information  received 
from  Sergeant  Griffith,  who  was  also  a  member  of  Johnson's  regiment. 
The  narrative,  being  thus  second-hand,  is  open  to  criticism  in  certain 
respects,  but  the  chief  occasion  for  regret  is  that  McAfee's  purpose 
was  satisfied  with  so  brief  an  account;  for  the  source  of  his  informa- 
tion, the  early  date  of  the  history,  and  the  character  of  McAfee  as  a 
historian  all  tend  to  the  belief  that  had  it  suited  his  purpose  to  enter 
more  fully  into  the  account  of  Fort  Dearborn,  a  narrative  of  great 
value  would  have  been  produced. 

We  come,  after  these  contemporary  accounts,  to  the  recollections 
and  reminiscences  told  in  old  age  by  participants,  or  relatives  or 
friends  of  participants,  in  the  massacre.  Some  of  these  have  proved 
to  be  of  considerable  value  for  the  reconstruction  of  our  story,  but  in 
most  sources  of  this  character  the  traces  of  time  and  of  failing  memory 
are  plainly  to  be  seen.  Moreover,  some  of  them  are  affected  by  the 
narrator's  personal  friendships  or  antipathies,  and  given  in  support  or 
contradiction  of  some  partisan  account.  Few  of  them  are  or  pretend 
to  be  more  than  fragmentary  accounts  of  the  battle.  Among  such 
sources  may  be  mentioned  the  testimony  of  Black  Hawk,955  of 
Shabbona,956  of  Joseph  Bourassa,957  and  of  Paul  De  Garmo.958 

»ss  Black  Hawk,  Life,  42. 

»««  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  VII,  416-18. 
»»  Draper  Collection,  S,  XXIII,  165  ff. 

ta  De  Garmo's  story  is  contained  in  a  letter  of  Charles  A.  Lamb,  August  24,  1893, 
MS  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 


398  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Logically  belonging  in  the  same  class  as  the  foregoing,  but  re- 
quiring in  each  case  more  extended  consideration,  are  the  narratives 
of  Alexander  Robinson,  of  Moses  Morgan,  and  of  Susan  Simmons 
Winans.  Robinson  was  one  of  the  chiefs  in  the  massacre  who  was 
friendly  to  the  whites  and  did  what  he  might  to  save  them.  He  it 
was  who  piloted  the  Healds  and  Sergeant  Griffith  in  their  three- 
hundred-mile  canoe  voyage  from  the  St.  Joseph  River  to  Mackinac. 
He  was  one  of  the  last  survivors  of  the  massacre,  living  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  Chicago  until  1872,  and  well  known  to  the  generation 
of  Chicagoans  before  the  great  fire.  For  some  reason  the  first  genera- 
tion of  writers  upon  early  Chicago  history  did  not  take  the  trouble 
to  secure  from  Robinson  his  version  of  the  massacre.  A  manuscript 
which  purports  to  contain  his  story  of  the  affair  is,  however,  in  the 
possession  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society.  The  information  con- 
tained in  it  purports  to  have  been  secured  by  Carl  A.  Dilg  in  a  series 
of  interviews  with  the  daughter  of  Robinson  some  time  after  the 
chief's  death.  Dilg  considered  it  of  great  importance,  but  a  careful 
study  of  it  compels  the  conclusion  that  it  possesses  practically  no 
historical  value.  It  was  not  put  in  writing  until  three-quarters  of  a 
century  had  elapsed;  more  important,  Robinson  himself  was  illiter- 
ate, and  the  story,  third-hand  at  best,  was  elicited  from  his  daughter 
in  a  series  of  interviews  extending  over  several  years,  by  a  man  whose 
prejudices  were  so  violent  and  methods  of  work  so  unscientific  as  to 
render  confidence  in  its  reliability  impossible. 

The  account  of  Susan  Simmons  Winans,  of  great  value  from  one 
point  of  view,  must,  for  the  actual  affair  of  the  massacre,  be  classed 
with  the  story  of  Robinson.  Mrs.  Winans,  the  infant  daughter  of 
John  Simmons,  was  saved  by  her  mother  from  the  slaughter  at  the 
wagons.  Both  mother  and  child  appeared  as  if  from  the  dead  in 
April,  1813,  after  a  series  of  adventures  which  recall  the  age  of  miracles 
and  providential  protection.  Mrs.  Simmons  lived  until  1857,  and 
her  daughter,  Mrs.  Winans,  until  1900,  being  the  last  known  survivor 
of  the  massacre.  Both  mother  and  daughter  frequently  narrated  to 
their  relatives  the  story  of  their  captivity,  the  daughter's  knowledge 
having  been  derived,  of  course,  from  her  mother.  A  relative,  Doctor 
N.  Simmons,  the  son  of  a  brother  of  John  Simmons,  moved  by  family 
pride  in  the  narrative  and  possessed  of  some  slight  literary  ability, 
published  in  1896  a  small  volume  which  contained,  in  addition  to  the 


APPENDIX  II  399 

story  of  his  kinsfolk,  a  sketch  of  the  massacre  and  of  the  Pottawatomie 
tribe  of  Indians.959  The  account  of  the  massacre  is  a  reprint  of 
Edward  G.  Mason's  narrative  in  his  Chapters  from  Illinois  History, 
and  the  volume  is  of  value  solely  for  the  account  it  gives  of  the  cap- 
tivity and  later  life  of  Mrs.  Simmons  and  her  daughter. 

Finally,  we  may  consider  the  massacre  narrative  of  Moses  Morgan 
as  preserved  by  William  R.  Head.  Among  the  workmen  who  helped 
to  build  the  second  Fort  Dearborn  in  1816  was  Moses  Morgan,  fore- 
man of  a  gang  of  carpenters.  He  had  served  as  a  volunteer  in  Hull's 
army  in  1812,  and  after  his  exchange  from  the  captivity  consequent 
upon  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  had  re-entered  the  service  as  a  carpenter. 
He  soon  became  a  foreman,  and  in  this  capacity  assisted  in  the  build- 
ing of  Commodore  Perry's  fleet  on  Lake  Erie.  In  1816  he  was  ordered 
to  accompany  the  troops  sent  to  rebuild  the  fort  at  Chicago.  In 
later  life  he  became  the  neighbor  at  Carlinville,  111.,  of  William  R. 
Head,  who  for  many  years  before  his  death  in  1910  was  a  resident  of 
Chicago.  Head  early  became  interested  in  local  history,  and  for  a 
period  of  forty  years  was  a  tireless  collector  of  data  pertaining  to 
early  Chicago  and  Illinois.  Among  other  things,  he  recorded  the 
story  told  him  by  Moses  Morgan.  It  contains  many  details  not 
found  elsewhere,  and  if  it  were  of  such  a  character  that  these  could 
be  relied  upon,  it  would  constitute  an  exceedingly  valuable  source  of 
information. 

Unfortunately,  however,  it  exhibits  many  defects.  The  account 
was  written  out  by  Head  late  in  life  from  notes  taken  and  from  recol- 
lections of  his  various  conversations  with  Morgan  many  years  before. 
Head,  like  Dilg,  was  lacking  in  historical  training,  while  he  held  a 
number  of  theories  concerning  the  massacre  and  possessed  a  violent 
antipathy  for  everything  connected  with  the  Kinzie  family.  In  his 
old  age  he  undertook  a  revision  of  his  manuscript,  which  further 
militated  against  its  reliability;  finally,  to  complete  the  tale  of  defects, 
after  his  death  the  mass  of  notes  and  other  material  which  he  had 
accumulated,  and  by  which  the  correctness  of  his  statements  might 
to  some  extent  have  been  tested,  was  burned  as  rubbish  by  his  family. 
Because  of  the  unreliable  character  of  the  narrative  but  little  depend- 
ence can  be  placed  upon  it,  particularly  in  those  portions  which 
involve  Head's  theories  or  his  prejudices.  Yet  it  seems  possible  to 

«»  Simmons,  N.,  Heroes  and  Heroines  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre. 


400  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

trust  some  of  its  statements  and  accordingly  some  use  has  been  made 
of  it  in  the  present  work.  There  is  no  reason  to  question  the  character 
and  integrity  of  either  Morgan  or  Head,  or  to  suppose  that  either 
consciously  misrepresented  the  facts.  The  more  reliable  portion  of 
the  narrative  has  been  utilized  in  the  chapter  on  the  fate  of  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  massacre.  The  part  which  deals  with  the  tragedy  itself 
is  given  here  because  of  its  human  interest,  in  spite  of  a  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  its  historical  worth. 

When  the  garrison  came,  in  the  summer  of  1816,  to  rebuild  the 
fort,  many  evidences  of  the  massacre  were  still  to  be  seen.  Many 
attempts  were  made  by  the  officers  to  get  an  exact  account  of  the 
destruction  of  the  first  fort  from  the  Indians  and  the  half-breeds  who 
knew  the  facts.  No  dependence,  however,  could  be  placed  upon 
their  statements.  Previous  to  the  coming  of  the  troops  some  of  these 
residents  had  boasted  of  the  part  they  had  taken  in  the  slaughter. 
For  obvious  reasons  their  denials  were  now  as  strenuous  as  their 
former  boasting  had  been  loud.  It  was  found  that  tales  of  the  fight 
were  being  manufactured  by  the  interpreters,  and  some  of  them  were 
dismissed,  but  without  any  favorable  results  in  the  form  of  desired 
information. 

One  account  was  obtained  by  a  soldier's  wife  from  Okra,  Ouil- 
mette's  wife,  and  a  half-breed  French  woman.  These  women  had, 
they  said,  watched  the  departure  of  the  troops  from  the  fort.  From 
a  favorable  vantage  point  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  where  Ouil- 
mette's  hut  stood  they  had  watched  the  troops  march  out,  the  Captain 
and  his  wife  being  the  last  to  leave.  There  were  two  army  wagons, 
one  containing  the  women  and  children  and  the  personal  baggage, 
drawn  by  Lee's  horses;  to  the  other,  laden  with  ammunition  and 
provisions,  three  pairs  of  steers  were  yoked.  Soon  the  women  heard 
the  sound  of  firing  and  smelled  the  powder  smoke,  but  from  their 
position  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  they  were  unable  to  see  the 
fight. 

Another  and  fuller  story  was  obtained  from  a  wounded  soldier 
of  Heald's  command  who  was  found,  under  circumstances  already 
described,960  living  a  few  miles  up  the  North  Branch.  In  presenting 
the  details,  it  should  be  noted  that  they  bear  throughout  the  imprint 
of  Head's  theories  and  prejudices.  There  were  not  provisions  enough 

*•  Supra,  pp.  260-61. 


APPENDIX  II  401 

for  a  long  siege.  The  garrison  should  not  have  left  so  soon.  Kinzie 
was  not  faithful  in  his  interpretations.  Lieutenant  Helm  was  so 
drunk  on  the  morning  of  August  15  that  he  was  not  able  to  retain  his 
place  in  line.  There  were  two  wagons,  one  of  which  was  guarded  by 
the  militia  and  the  soldiers  who  had  children.  The  troops  marched 
out  close  to  the  water's  edge,  and  when  the  wagons  had  gone  a  short 
distance  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  river  two  half-grown  Pottawatomie 
boys  began  shooting  at  the  animals  hitched  to  the  wagons,  wounding 
one  of  the  horses  and  causing  it  to  lie  down.  The  steers  attached  to 
the  army  wagon  turned  quickly  around,  breaking  the  wagon-pole, 
and  half  overturning  the  wagon.  For  a  time  the  men  about  the 
wagons  stood  patiently  in  line  surrounded  by  a  group  of  friendly 
Indians.  Then  the  strange  Indians,  not  finding  the  ammunition  and 
provisions  in  the  fort,  came  rushing  down  upon  the  wagons.  As  they 
came  on  the  men  gave  three  volleys,  killing  many  of  them.  The  sur- 
render was  made  by  the  Captain  to  Black  Bird,  and  the  valuables  and 
money  were  given  under  a  promise  of  protection  for  the  men.  The 
Captain  and  a  sergeant  were  turned  over  to  Robinson  to  be  saved  for 
their  money.  The  general  opinion  when  Morgan  left  Chicago  was 
that  the  delay  caused  by  the  Indian  boys'  attack  upon  the  teams  was 
the  chief  reason  why  the  party  did  not  escape;  that  the  attack  upon 
the  wagons  took  place  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  river;  and  that  the 
ensign  made  a  mistake  in  commanding  his  men  to  fire  so  quickly. 


APPENDIX  III 

NATHAN  HEALD'S  JOURNAL*' 

Nathan  Heald,  the  son  of  Thomas  Heald  &  Sibyl,  his  wife,  was 
born  in  New  Ipswich  in  the  state  of  New  Hampshire  the  24th  of 
September  1775,  and  entered  the  army  of  the  U.  States  as  an  Ensign 
the  2nd  of  March  1799.  In  the  spring  of  1800  went  to  Springfield  in 
Mass,  on  the  Recruiting  Service. 

In  the  spring  of  1801  left  Springfield  with  a  Detachment  of 
Recruits  under  the  command  of  Capt.  Lyman  to  join  the  western 
Army,  and  arrived  at  Wilkinson  Ville  on  the  Ohio  early  in  the  fall  of 
the  same  year.  Left  Wilkinson  Ville  late  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year, 
with  a  Detachment  of  4  Companies  of  Inf  under  the  Command  of 
Capt.  R.  Bissell  &  went  up  Tennessee  River  2  or  3  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  Bear  Creek,  built  a  cantonment  &c. 

In  the  spring  of  1802,  a  part  of  the  Army  being  disbanded,  I  went 
to  Vincennes  with  a  Detachment  of  Capt.  Lyman's  company  to  join 
that  post. 

In  the  spring  of  1803,  went  on  Command  to  Detroit  with  Gov'r 
Harrison,  &  returned  to  Vincennes  the  next  fall,  having  been  sick  at 
Detroit  all  summer. 

In  the  beginning  of  1804,  went  to  Chilicothe  Ohio  on  the  Recruit- 
ing service;  spent  the  summer  following  at  Maysville  Ky  on  the  same 
service  &  returned  to  Vincennes  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year. 

In  the  spring  of  1805,  went  to  Fort  Massack  where  I  commanded 
till  late  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  when  I  sat  out  on  furlough  for 
Concord  Mass,  and  arrived  there  in  January  1806.  Attended  a  Genl. 
Court  Martial  as  a  Member  on  the  seaboard  in  New  Hampshire  the 
same  winter,  and  went  to  New  London  Conn,  on  the  Recruiting 
service  with  Cap.  Stoddard  in  the  spring.  Left  New  London  late  in 
the  summer  &  went  to  New  Brunswick  N.J.  on  the  same  service,  & 

**  Printed  for  the  first  time  from  the  original  manuscript  among  the  Heald  papers  in 
the  Draper  Collection  at  Madison,  Wis.  The  Journal  was  kept  by  Heald  in  a  small  blank 
book  about  3X6  inches  in  size.  It  contains  in  addition  to  the  autobiographical  matter 
presented  here  a  number  of  pages  of  memoranda  consisting  of  military  data,  financial 
entries,  medical  and  household  recipes,  and  so  forth. 

402 


APPENDIX  III  403 

in  the  fall,  was  ordered  to  Fort  Wayne,  by  the  way  of  Philadelphia 
where  I  joined  Capt.  Stoddard  with  a  Detachment  of  Recruits  &  went 
with  him  to  Newport  on  the  Ohio,  then  by  myself  to  Fort  Wayne, 
where  I  arrived  and  took  the  command  in  Jan.  7  1807.  On  the  3ist 
of  that  month  &  the  same  year  was  promoted  to  a  Capt.  in  ist  Reg't 
Infantry. 

In  the  spring  of  1807  went  to  Detroit  to  sit  on  a  Gen'l  Court 
Martial  &  returned  to  Fort  Wayne  in  the  summer. 

In  June  1810  left  Fort  Wayne  &  went  to  Chicago  to  Command  that 
Post,  went  on  furlough  to  Massachusetts  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year 
and  returned  by  the  way  of  Kentucky  where  I  was  married  to  Rebecca 
Wells  the  daughter  of  Gen'l  Samuel  Wells  and  Mary  his  wife,  on  the 
23d  of  May  1811,  and  arrived  at  Chicago  in  June  with  Mrs.  Heald. 

On  the  4th  of  May  1812,  we  had  a  son  born  dead  for  the  want  of 
a  skilful  Midwife. 

On  the  gth  of  Augt,  1812,  rec'd  orders  from  Gen'l  Wm.  Hull  to 
evacuate  the  Post  of  Chicago  and  proceed  with  my  Command  to 
Detroit. 

On  the  1 5th  Marched  for  Detroit  &  was  attacked  by  about  500 
Indians  two  miles  from  the  Fort  and  there  was  killed  in  the  action 
i  Ensign,  i  Surgeon's  Mate,  24  Non-Commissioned  Officers  Musicians 
&  Privates,  12  Militia  including  Capt.  Wells  of  the  Indian  Department 
at  Fort  Wayne,  2  Women  &  12  Children.  Myself,  one  Lieut.  25 
Non-Commiss.  Officers  Musicians  &  Privates  and  eleven  Women  & 
Children  were  captured  by  the  Indians.  On  the  i6th,  that  is  the  day 
after  [the]  action,  Mrs.  Heald  &  myself  were  taken  to  the  St.  Joseph 
River  by  our  new  Masters.  The  journey  was  performed  in  three  days 
by  coasting  the  Lake  (Michigan)  and  we  remained  with  them  (both 
being  badly  wounded  &  unable  to  help  ourselves)  till  the  29  of  the 
same  Month  when  we  took  our  departure  for  Michilimackinac  in  a 
Birch  Canoe,  with  Sergeant  Griffith,  one  of  the  unfortunate  prisoners, 
and  3  Frenchmen  &  a  Squaw.  The  i4th  of  Sept.  we  all  arrived  safe 
at  Michilimackinac.  I  was  there  Paroled  by  Capt.  Roberts,  the 
British  Comma[n]dant,  &  permitted  to  proceed  to  Detroit  with  Mrs. 
Heald  &  the  Sergeant. 

Left  the  Island  on  the  igth  of  the  month  (Sept.)  and  arrived  at 
Detroit  the  22nd — was  there  permitted  by  Capt.  Proctor  to  proceed 
to  the  U.  States  on  Parole.  Left  Detroit  the  4th  of  October,  and 


404  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

arrived  at  Buffalon  the  8th  in  the  old  Brigg  Adams.    Left  Buffalon 
the  roth  and  arrived  at  Pittsburg  the  22nd. 

Left  Pittsburgh  the  8th  Nov.  and  arrived  at  Louisville  the  igth. 
The  distance  from  Chicago  to  Michilimackinac  in  coasting  the  Lake 

on  the  east  side  is 400  miles 

Thence  to  Detroit  300 

Thence  to  Buffalon  280 

Thence  to  Erie  by  land  90 

Thence  to  Pittsburgh  by  land  but  we  travelled  by  water      132 
Thence  to  Louisville  by  water  705 

Total      1907 

On  the  26th  of  August  1812,  I  was  promoted  to  a  Major  in  the  4th 
Regt.  Inf 'y. 

The  winter  of  1812-13  Mrs.  Heald  &  myself  spent  at  her  father's, 
and  went  to  Newport  in  the  spring  where  we  spent  the  summer  follow- 
ing &  returned  to  Mr.  Jaoob  Geiger's  near  Louisville  &  spent  the 
whiter  of  1813-14.  The  spring  and  summer  following  I  was  engaged 
in  putting  up  buildings  on  a  piece  of  Land  I  bought  of  Mr.  Wand 
joining  Jacob  Geiger's  Plantation  &  moved  into  the  buildings  late  in 
the  fall  of  1814. 

At  the  Consolidation  of  the  Army  in  1814  I  was  disbanded,  being 
then  a  Major  in  the  igth  Regt.  of  Inf'y. 

Mary  Sibyl  Heald  was  born  at  her  Grandfather's  near  Louisville 
on  the  i;th  of  Ap'l  1814. 

Margaret  Ann  Heald  born  at  my  House  near  Louisville  the  gth 
of  Dec'r  1816  Kentucky. 

Feb  i  $th  1817  sold  my  House  &  Lot  near  Louisville  Ky  to  Mr. 
Jacob  Geiger  for  $3000. 

March  22nd  1817.  Left  Louisville  with  my  family  for  St.  Charles 
County  Missouri  Territory  and  arrived  there  the  i5th  of  Apl.  follow- 
ing. 

Spent  the  summer  of  1817  at  Joseph  Batys  plantation. 

Nov'r  1817  moved  to  a  Plantation  I  bought  of  Jacob  Zumwalt 
for  $1000. 

Rebecca  Hackley  Heald  was  born  hi  St.  Charles  County  the  7th 
January  1819. 

2ist  September  1820.  Mr.  Geiger's  family  arrived  from  Ken- 
tucky. 


APPENDIX  III  405 

Nov'r  2nd  Mrs  Geiger  died  of  a  consumption.  (Nov)  6th  Mr. 
Geiger  with  his  Children  sat  out  for  Kentucky. 

i  yth  October  (1820)  Bought  a  House  and  lot  in  St.  Charles  of 
Antoine  Ganis  for  the  sum  of  $450.  cash  in  hand. 

Rebecca  Hackley  Heald  Died  i6th  Jan'y  1821,  between  the  hours 
of  8  &  9  P.M.  Aged  2  Years  &  10  days. 

Darius  Heald  born  on  Sunday  Jan'y  2yth  1822,  at  3  o'Clock  in 
the  morning.  The  Moon  5  days  old,  in  the  sign  of  (Aries)  State  of 
Missouri  St.  Charles  County. 


APPENDIX  IV 

CAPTAIN  HEALD'S  OFFICIAL  REPORT  OF  THE  EVACUATION 
OF  FORT  DEARBORN*62 

PITTSBURG,  October  23d,  1812. 

SIR  :  I  embrace  this  opportunity  to  render  you  an  account  of  the 
garrison  of  Chicago. 

On  the  Qth  of  August  last,  I  received  orders  from  General  Hull  to 
evacuate  the  post  and  proceed  with  my  command  to  Detroit,  by  land, 
leaving  it  at  my  discretion  to  dispose  of  the  public  property  as  I 
thought  proper.  The  neighboring  Indians  got  the  information  as 
early  as  I  did,  and  came  in  from  all  quarters  in  order  to  receive  the 
goods  in  the  factory  store,  which  they  understood  were  to  be  given 
them.  On  the  i3th,  Captain  Wells,  of  Fort  Wayne,  arrived  with 
about  30  Miamies,  for  the  purpose  of  escorting  us  in,  by  the  request 
of  General  Hull.  On  the  i4th,  I  delivered  the  Indians  all  the  goods 
in  the  factory  store,  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  provisions  which 
we  could  not  take  away  with  us.  The  surplus  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion I  thought  proper  to  destroy,  fearing  they  would  make  bad 
use  of  it  if  put  in  their  possession.  I  also  destroyed  all  the  liquor 
on  hand  after  they  began  to  collect.  The  collection  was  unusually 
large  for  that  place;  but  they  conducted  themselves  with  the 
strictest  propriety  till  after  I  left  the  fort.  On  the  i5th,  at  9 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  commenced  our  march:  a  part  of  the 
Miamies  were  detached  in  front,  and  the  remainder  in  our  rear, 
as  guards,  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Wells.  The  situation  of 
the  country  rendered  it  necessary  for  us  to  take  the  beach,  with 
the  lake  on  our  left,  and  a  high  sand  bank  on  our  right,  at  about 
100  yards  distance. 

We  had  proceeded  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  when  it  was  discovered 
that  the  Indians  were  prepared  to  attack  us  from  behind  the  bank. 
I  immediately  marched  up  with  the  company  to  the  top  of  the  bank, 

*"  The  report  has  been  published  in  various  places,  usually  with  the  opening  sentence 
omitted.  As  presented  here  the  report  is  taken  from  the  Drennan  Papers,  copied  from 
Brannan's  Official  Military  and  Naval  Letters  (Washington,  1823),  84. 

406 


APPENDIX  IV  407 

when  the  action  commenced;  after  firing  one  round,  we  charged,  and 
the  Indians  gave  way  in  front  and  joined  those  on  our  flanks.     In 
about  fifteen  minutes  they  got  possession  of  all  our  horses,  provisions, 
and  baggage  of  every  description,  and  finding  the  Miamies  did  not 
assist  us,  I  drew  off  the  few  men  I  had  left,  and  took  possession  of  a 
small  elevation  in  the  open  prarie,  out  of  shot  of  the  bank  or  any 
other  cover.    The  Indians  did  not  follow  me,  but  assembled  in  a 
body  on  the  top  of  the  bank,  and  after  some  consultations  among 
themselves,  made  signs  for  me  to  approach  them.    I  advanced  towards 
them  alone,  and  was  met  by  one  of  the  Potawatamie  chiefs,  called  the 
Black  Bird,  with  an  interpreter.    After  shaking  hands,  he  requested 
me  to  surrender,  promising  to  spare  the  lives  of  all  the  prisoners. 
On  a  few  moments  consideration,  I  concluded  it  would  be  most  pru- 
dent to  comply  with  his  request,  although  I  did  not  put  entire  confi- 
dence in  his  promise.    After  delivering  up  our  arms,  we  were  taken 
back  to  their  encampment  near  the  fort,  and  distributed  among  the 
different  tribes.    The  next  morning,  they  set  fire  to  the  fort  and  left 
the  place,  taking  the  prisoners  with  them.     Their  number  of  warriors 
was  between  four  and  five  hundred,  mostly  of  the  Potawatamie 
nation,  and  their  loss,  from  the  best  information  I  could  get,  was 
about   fifteen.    Our   strength   was   fifty-four  regulars  and   twelve 
militia,  out  of  which,  twenty-six  regulars  and  all  the  militia  were 
killed  in  the  action,  with  two  women  and  twelve  children.    Ensign 
George  Ronan  and  doctor  Isaac  V  Van  Voorhis  of  my  company,  with 
Captain  Wells,  of  Fort  Wayne,  are,  to  my  great  sorrow,  numbered 
among  the  dead.    Lieutenant  Lina  T.  Helm,  with  twenty-five  non- 
commissioned officers  and  privates,  and  eleven  women  and  children, 
were  prisoners  when  we  were  separated.     Mrs.  Heald  and  myself 
were  taken  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Joseph,  and  being  both  badly 
wounded,  were  permitted  to  reside  with  Mr.  Burnet,  an  Indian  trader. 
In  a  few  days  after  our  arrival  there,  the  Indians  all  went  off  to  take 
Fort  Wayne,  and  in  their  absence,  I  engaged  a  Frenchman  to  take  us 
to  Michilimackinac  by  water,  where  I  gave  myself  up  as  a  prisoner 
of  war,  with  one  of  my  sergeants.    The  commanding  officer,  Captain 
Roberts,  offered  me  every  assistance  in  his  power  to  render  our  situa- 
tion comfortable  while  we  remained  there,  and  to  enable  us  to  proceed 
on  our  journey.    To  him  I  gave  my  parole  of  Honour,  and  came  on 
to  Detroit  and  reported  myself  to  Colonel  Proctor,  who  gave  us  a 


408  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

passage  to  Buffaloe;  from  that  place  I  came  by  way  of  Presque  Isle, 
and  arrived  here  yesterday. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  yours,  &c., 

N.  HEALD, 

Captain  U3.  Infantry. 
THOMAS  H.  GUSHING,  ESQR., 
Adjutant  General. 


APPENDIX  V 

DARIUS  HEALD'S  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  CHICAGO  MASSACRE, 
AS  TOLD  TO  LYMAN  C.  DRAPER  IN  1868** 

In  a  newspaper  account  preserved  by  D.  Heald,  somewhat  frag- 
mentary— evidently  an  obituary  notice  of  Maj.  Heald — is  the  follow- 
ing, supplying  a  few  words  toward  the  close  in  brackets: 

"Maj.  Heald  was  in  command  of  Fort  Dearborn,  Chicago,  in 
1812,  when  an  order  was  presented  to  him  by  a  British  officer  [an 
Indian,  Mr.  D.  Heald  believes]  from  Gen.  Hull  to  deliver  up  the  post, 
with  all  the  public  property  therein.  The  officer  was  accompanied  by 
several  hundred  Indians  who,  after  the  troops  had  left  the  garrison, 
commenced  an  indiscriminate  massacre  of  the  men,  women  &  children. 
The  Major  endeavored  to  rally  the  few  who  were  armed,  but  was  so 
severely  wounded  in  the  very  outset  as  to  be  deprived  of  every  means 
of  resistance.  In  this  situation  he  was  about  to  be  dispatched  by 
some  of  the  Indians  and  was  only  saved  by  the  interference  of  a 
young  man,  a  half-breed  connected  with  the  Indians  by  the  name 
of  Jean  Baptist  Chandonnis,  through  whose  persuasions  &  the  hope 
of  a  considerable  reward  which  he  held  out  to  the  savages,  they 
were  induced  to  desist  from  their  murderous  design,  &  to  take 
him  a  prisoner.  Mrs.  Heald  was  in  the  early  part  of  the  action 
separated  from  her  husband  &  fell  in  company  with  her  uncle,  the 
late  Maj.  Wm.  Wells,  formerly  Indian  Agent  at  Fort  Wayne.  In 
the  running  fight  which  this  brave  man  kept  up  with  a  dozen  of 
the  Indians,  &  while  dying  of  the  wounds  he  had  received,  he 
killed  three  of  their  best  warriors,  two  with  his  rifle  &  the  third 
with  his  dirk.  Mrs.  Heald  was  wounded  in  the  breast,  in  both 
arms  and  in  the  side.  To  her  unshaken  [firmness]  is  she  indebted 
[for  the  preservation  of  her  own  life  and  that  of]  her  husband  [by 
the  aid  of]  their  friend  Chandonis." 

**  For  an  account  of  the  two  Darius  Heald  narratives  of  the  massacre  see  supra, 
p.  381.  The  earlier  narrative  of  the  two,  which  is  presented  here,  was  related  in  an  inter- 
view with  Lyman  C.  Draper  in  1868.  It  is  printed  here  for  the  first  time,  from  the  original 
manuscript  in  the  Draper  Collection.  It  has  never  been  used  by  historical  writers 
hitherto,  nor,  apparently,  has  the  fact  of  its  existence  been  known. 

409 


410  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

[From  Darius  Heald] 

Maj.  Heald  resolved  to  retire  for  Detroit.  Can't  tell  when  nor 
where  the  militia  came  from  who  were  killed.  Wells  thought  there 
would  be  difficulty,  yet  thought  they  might  effect  their  escape,  & 
strongly  advised  the  attempt,  saying  the  longer  they  remained  the 
more  Indians  there  would  be  ready  to  intercept  them  when  they  should 
start,  as  they  would  have  to  do  when  starved  out.  Thinks  there  was 
no  opposition  to  evacuation  by  any  of  the  officers.  Mrs.  Heald  used 
so  to  represent  it.  Capt.  Wm.  Wells  got  there  perhaps  three  or  four 
days  before  the  evacuation,  nothing  was  then  destroyed;  the  secreting 
the  ammunition  in  the  well  was  after  he  came,  as  also  the  destruction 
of  the  whiskey,  so  the  Indians  should  not  have  it  to  infuriate  them. 

The  government  Indian  goods  were  distributed  to  the  Indians, 
ttho  were  receiving  them  as  the  garrison  left.  Capt.  Wells  &  the 
militia  were  half  a  mile  in  advance.  The  Indians  had  formed  a  half 
circle  at  the  east  end  of  the  Lake,  &  the  west  end  of  which  was  left 
open  for  the  Americans  to  enter.  They  did  enter.  This  half  moon 
trap  was  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  long.  Wells  discovered  them 
as  he  neared  their  upper  or  western  line,  the  advanced  party  were 
fired  on,  returned  the  fire  &  fell  back  to  the  main  body.  Wells  gave 
a  signal  with  his  hat  before  reaching  Maj.  Heald  &  the  main  body. 
Wells  &  party  yet  some  distance  off,  mounted  on  ponies,  waving  his 
hat,  indicating  that  their  march  was  intercepted.  Indians'  heads  now 
began  to  pop  up  all  along  the  line.  Then  Maj.  Heald  formed  his  men 
in  battle  line  on  a  sand  hill,  the  wagons  were  made  part  of  the  line  of 
defence.  The  Indians  would  get  up  as  near  as  they  could,  behind 
trees,  bushes  &  sand  banks  to  protect  them,  would  fire  upon  Heald's 
band,  who  would  repel  these  attacks.  Discovering  a  short  distance 
ahead  a  better  position  for  defence,  Maj.  Heald  got  the  wagons  con- 
taining sick  soldiers,  women  &  children  between  the  troops  &  the  Lake, 
made  a  charge,  drove  the  Indians  &  secured  this  more  desirable 
position. 

The  Indians  kept  crowding  up  &  a  running  fight  took  place, 
seemingly  from  the  fort  to  where  the  wagons  were.  Mrs.  Heald 
found  herself  in  front  &  near  her  uncle,  who  rode  up  beside  her,  saying, 
"My  child,  I'm  mortally  wounded."  The  blood  was  oozing  from  his 
mouth  &  nose.  Shot  through  the  lungs.  She  inquired  if  he  might 
not  possibly  recover.  "No,  I  can't  live  more  than  an  hour,"  and 


APPENDIX  V  411 

added,  "My  horse  is  also  badly  wounded  &  I  fear  cannot  carry  me  to 
where  the  wagons  are.  I  must  hasten. "  His  horse  soon  fell  &  caught 
one  of  the  dying  captain's  legs  under  him;  but  Wells  managed  to  dis- 
engage himself.  Mrs.  Heald  now  said  to  him,  "See,  there  are  Indians 
close  by."  He  replied,  "I  care  not.  I  cannot  last  but  a  few  minutes; 
I  will  sell  my  life  as  dearly  as  possible;  as  there  is  no  apparent  hope 
for  your  escape,  my  dear  child,  I  trust  you  will  die  as  bravely  as  a 
soldier."  He  now  fell  to  the  ground  &  shot  as  he  lay,  with  his  rifle  & 
then  with  his  pistol,  thus  dispatching  two  Indians;  while  reloading 
several  other  Indians  came  up  &  laying  as  if  dead  he  made  a  last 
effort,  raised  his  rifle  &  killed  another,  then  hastily  bidding  his  niece 
farewell,  adding  that  he  had  done  all  he  could  in  his  weakness,  the 
advancing  Indian  host  had  now  come  up,  readily  recognized  him, 
though  painted  black  &  dressed  like  an  Indian,  &  while  some  of  them, 
disingenuously,  treacherously,  spoke  of  saving  him,  one  of  their  num- 
ber pointed  his  gun  at  Wells'  head,  seeing  which  the  dying  man 
pointed  his  finger  at  his  heart,  &  made  a  circular  motion  around  the 
crown  of  his  head,  thus  indicating  where  to  shoot  him,  &  take  his 
scalp,  in  another  instant  he  lay  in  death,  when  his  heart  was  taken 
out,  cut  up  into  small  bits,  distributed  &  eaten,  that  they  might  prove 
as  brave  as  he.  His  scalp  was  then  torn  off,  his  body  well  hacked  & 
cut  to  pieces. 

Mrs.  Heald  received  her  wo[u]nds  while  close  by  her  brave  uncle, 
three  wounds  in  one  arm,  one  in  the  other,  one  cut  across  her  breast, 
one  in  her  side,  only  one  bone,  &  that  in  one  of  her  arms,  broken. 
She  stuck  to  her  horse,  was  surrounded  by  the  savages  &  taken 
prisoner.  She  had  no  weapon  of  defense.  Doesn't  know  what 
Indian  took  her,  except  that  he  was  a  young  chief.  She  &  her  horse 
were  led  off  and  taken  to  where  the  squaws  were.  On  the  way  the 
Indians  charged  her  with  being  an  Ep-pi-con-yare — a  Wells.  This, 
from  supposed  policy,  she  denied.  The  squaws  came  out  to  meet  the 
approaching  party,  and  one  of  these  forest  ladies  at  once  commenced 
pulling  out  the  blanket  from  under  Mrs.  Heald,  which  was  spread 
over  the  saddle,  &  on  which  she  sat,  when  she  tried  to  see  if  she  could 
use  her  right  hand,  which  was  the  least  disabled  of  the  two,  &  plied 
her  riding  whip  two  or  three  times  smartly  over  the  adventurous 
squaw's  bare  neck  and  shoulders,  who  quickly  relinquished  her  hold 
and  retreated  beyond  the  reach  of  this  white  squaw  warrior.  The 


412  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

young  chief  who  had  her  in  charge  let  go  the  bridle  &  raised  a  hearty 
yell  of  rejoicing  at  the  daring  intrepidity  of  his  prisoner,  exclaiming, 
"brave  squaw!  Epiconyare!"  He  seemed  resolved  on  protecting  & 
serving  her,  &  appeared  to  admire  her  spirit.  He  would  afterwards 
take  the  unfortunate  squaw,  who  was  supposed  to  be  his  wife,  & 
exhibit  to  the  Indians  the  marks  on  her  shoulders  &  relate  the  cir- 
cumstances of  her  receiving  them,  when  they  would  all  raise  a  hearty 
laugh,  which  the  squaw  herself  seemed  to  enjoy  as  much  as  the  others. 

The  chief  gave  directions  to  the  squaws  who  lifted  Mrs.  Heald 
from  her  horse,  to  dress  the  wounds  with  poultices,  which  they  did, 
&  rendered  her  condition  very  comfortable. 

In  the  fight  she  had  observed  one  of  the  officers  fall,  perhaps 
her  husband.  She  inquired  as  to  Maj.  Heald's  fate,  saying  she  was 
the  white  captain's  squaw.  They  told  her  he  was  wpunded  &  a 
prisoner  to  another  band,  &  had  not  yet  marched  away.  She  then 
told  them  she  wanted  to  see  him  &  share  his  fate  in  company  with 
him.  They  told  her  that  she  and  her  husband  belonged  to  different 
parties,  and  she  could  not  go  with  him.  She  insisted  that  she  must 
see  him  or  die.  A  squaw  who  had  dressed  her  wounds  now  addressed 
her  as  Epi-con-yare,  and  she  now  frankly  acknowledged  the  relation- 
ship, and  said  if  she  had  been  a  man  she  would  have  fought  as  long 
as  a  red  skin  could  have  been  found. 

Now  Jean  Baptist  Chandonnis  made  quite  a  speech  to  the 
Indians  of  the  band  who  had  her,  appealing  to  them  in  their  native 
language,  saying  that  she  was  an  Ep-i-con-yare,  that  she  was  not  only 
related  to  a  brave  man,  but  was  the  wife  of  a  brave  officer,  and  had 
proved  herself  a  brave  &  spirited  woman,  and  ought  to  be  permitted 
to  see  her  husband,  and  closed  with  a  noble  appeal  in  her  behalf. 
He  obtained  their  promise  to  remain  until  he  could  go  and  see  the 
Indian  who  had  Captain  Heald  as  his  prisoner.  He  at  once  repaired 
to  the  other  camp  &  informed  [Captain  Heald]  about  his  wife;  & 
prevailed  on  his  Indian  captor  to  mount  him  on  a  poney,  though 
wounded,  &  conveyed  him  to  where  his  wife  was,  when  an  affecting 
meeting  took  place.  The  good-hearted  Chandonnis  then  tried  to 
effect  a  trade,  an  arrangement  by  which  the  two  prisoners  should  be 
kept  together.  At  length  Chandonnis  purchased  Mrs.  Heald  from 
her  captor  for  an  old  mule  captured  there  and  a  bottle  of  whiskey, 
and  had  her  placed  with  her  husband. 


APPENDIX  V  413 

In  the  fight  the  Indians  got  in  the  rear  &  were  killing  sick  soldiers, 
women  and  children  when  Heald  &  party  commenced  falling  back, 
but  they  were  overpowered,  killed  and  taken.  Capt.  Heald  also 
captured,  all  at  last,  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  all  mixed  up,  whites  & 
Indians. 

The  Indians  used  guns,  spears,  bows  &  arrows,  in  the  fight. 

Thinks  the  prisoners,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Heald,  were  some  thirty  days 
reaching  Mackinaw  where  Capt.  Heald,  being  a  mason,  was  befriended 
by  the  British  officer  in  command  there,  one  of  the  fraternity,  &  was 
treated  very  kindly,  who  offered  to  loan  him  any  amount  of  money, 
tendering  him  his  pocketbook  even;  adding  that  if  he  ever  reached 
home  he  could  return  it — if  not  it  would  all  be  right. 

It  was  believed  by  Mrs.  Heald  that  it  was  her  spirited  conduct 
that  induced  the  Indians  to  spare  her  &  her  husband,  both  badly 
wounded,  &  in  such  condition  would  be  troublesome  &  cumbersome. 

Mrs.  Heald  saw  &  read  Mrs.  Kinzie's  Waubun  &  said  it  was 
exaggerated  &  incorrect  in  its  relation  of  the  Chicago  massacre. 
Don't  know  the  name  of  the  Indian  who  took  Capt.  Heald. 

Mrs.  Heald  said  the  Indians  were  not  drunk. 

Mr.  D.  Heald  thinks  the  friendly  Miamis  who  came  with  Wells 
to  escort  in  the  troops  were  what  Maj.  Heald  speaks  of  as  militia 
[which  I  doubt,  as  it  seems  that  the  friendly  Indians  took  no  part  in 
the  fight,  whereas  some  of  the  "militia"  were  killed,  as  Heald's 
report  shows.  L.C.D.] 

Thinks  Wells  painted  himself  as  much  to  disguise  his  person  as 
for  anything  else.  Mrs.  Heald  said  that  she  did  not  see  the  incident 
of  Mrs.  Helm  (if  it  was  her)  being  sent  by  her  captor  into  the  edge 
of  the  lake  for  safety. 

In  1831,  Chandonnis  called  &  visited  Maj.  Heald  &  wife,  accom- 
panied by  a  chief,  and  spent  two  or  three  days  there,  they  being  cor- 
dially entertained,  Maj.  H.  killing  a  beef  &  a  sheep  &  gave  them  a 
feast  of  fresh  meat,  &  talked  over  the  story  of  the  eventful  captivity. 
Chandonnis  &  others  were  then  on  their  way  to  Kansas  as  a  deputa- 
tion to  view  the  country  &  report  the  result  of  their  observations  to 
their  people. 

Just  before  the  evacuation  of  Chicago,  Mrs.  Heald  had  sewed 
into  a  wamus,  or  roundabout,  several  hundred  dollars  in  paper  money, 
&  gave  the  since  chief  Alex.  Robinson  $100.  for  conveying  Maj. 


414  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Heald  &  wife  to  Mackinaw,  which  he  safely  accomplished.  This 
garment  Maj.  Heald  wore  under  his  regular  military  suit,  &  when  his 
outside  clothing  was  stripped  from  him,  the  old  wamus  &  money  were 
left  untouched. 

Page  615  of  Peck's  edition  of  Annals  of  the  West,  says  Mrs. 
Heald  was  attacked  in  a  boat,  this  is  a  mistake. 

The  Indians  were  not  troublesome  as  represented  in  that  work, 
as  crowding  into  the  fort  before  the  evacuation. 

Wells  arrived  the  i3th,  see  Heald's  official  report  in  the  "Annals." 

Maj.  Heald  was  so  disabled  that  he  was  not  engaged  in  any  other 
active  military  service  subsequently.  After  a  few  years  his  wounds 
gradually  grew  worse,  so  that  he  had  to  use  a  crutch  &  cane,  &  these 
wounds  finally  hastened  his  death,  the  ball  was  never  extracted. 

Can't  say  about  Capt.  Heald  first  going  to  Chicago  in  1810, 
don't  know  whether  there  was  then  any  garrison  there  or  not. 

Mrs.  Heald  was  born  in  Jefferson  Co.,  Ky.,  in  1790,  was  in  her 
2ist  year  when  married  in  May,  1811. 

Mr.  Heald  has  got  a  small  water-color  likeness  of  his  grand- 
father, Gen'l  Sam'l  Wells,  and  a  daguerreotype964  of  Mrs.  Rebecca 
Heald.  There  is  no  likeness  extant  of  Maj.  Heald. 

•»•.<  Now  owned  by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Lillian  Heald  Richmond,  of  St.  Louis;  for  a 
reproduction  of  it  see  p.  300. 


APPENDIX  VI 

LIEUTENANT    HELM'S    ACCOUNT  OF    THE    MASSACRE.    TO- 
GETHER WITH   THE  LETTER**  OF  HELM  TO  JUDGE 
WOODWARD  ANNOUNCING  THE  NARRATIVE 

FLEMINGTON  NEW  JERSEY  6th  June,  1814. 
DEAR  SIR  :  I  hope  you  will  excuse  the  length  of  time  I  have  taken 
to  communicate  the  history  of  the  unfortunate  massicree  of  Chicago 
it  is  now  nearly  finished  and  in  two  weeks  you  may  expect  it — as  the 
history  cannot  possibly  be  written  with  truth  without  eternally  dis- 
gracing major  Heald  I  wish  you  could  find  out  whether  I  shall  be 
cashiered  or  censured  for  bringing  to  light  the  conduct  of  so  great  a 
man  as  many  thinks  him — You  know  I  am  the  only  Officer  that  has 
escaped  to  tell  the  news  some  of  the  men  have  got  off  but  where  they 
are  I  know  not  they  could  be  able  to  testify  to  some  of  the  principal 
facts — I  have  waited  a  long  time  expecting  a  court  of  inquiry  on  his 
conduct  but  see  plainly  it  is  to  be  overlooked — I  am  resolved  now  to 
do  myself  justice  even  if  I  have  to  leave  the  service  to  publish  the 
history,  I  shall  be  happy  to  hear  from  you  immediately  on  the  receipt 
of  this — 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 
Sir— 

with  great  respect 
Your  Obt  Hb  Servt 

L.  T.  HELM. 

AUGUSTUS  B.  WOODWARD  ESQK. 
Washington  City. 

*«  The  letter  as  printed  here  is  copied  from  the  original  manuscript  in  the  Detroit 
Public  Library.  Notwithstanding  Helm's  statement  that  the  narrative  would  be  ready 
in  two  weeks,  an  endorsement  on  the  back  of  it  indicates  that  it  was  not  received  by  Wood- 
ward until  November  10,  1815.  In  the  meantime  Heald  had  severed  his  connection  with 
the  army,  near  the  close  of  1814.  In  view  of  Helm's  apprehensions  of  being  court-martialed 
for  his  story,  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  there  is  some  relation  between  Heald's  retirement 
and  its  long-delayed  appearance.  Words  and  phrases  which  have  been  crossed  out  in  the 
original  manuscript  of  the  letter  and  of  the  massacre  narrative  are  printed  in  italics  and 
put  within  brackets. 

415 


416  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

[Addressed]     Flemirigton  [Paid]  17 

Jun  6th. 

Augustus  B.  Woodward,  Esq. 

Milton, 
[Washington  City] 

Va. 

[Endorsed]  < 

Helm,  Mr.  Linah  T., 
letter  from 

Dated  Fleming- 
ton  New  Jersey 

June  6th.  1814. 
Received  at  Washing- 
ton. 

June 
i4th 
1814. 

THE  MASSACRE  NARRATIVE"* 

Some  time  in  [March]  April,  about  the  yth-io,  a  party  of  Winne- 
bagoes  came  to  Chicago  and  murdered  2  Men  this  gave  a  Sufficient 
ground  for  to  suppose  the  Indians  Hostile  as  they  had  left  every  sign 
by  scalping  them  &  leaving  a  weapon  say  a  war  mallet  as  a  token  of 
their  returning  in  June,  Mr.  Kinzie  sent  in  a  letter  from  the  Interior 
of  the  Indian  country  to  inform  Capt.  Heald  that  the  Indians  were 
Hostile  inclined  &  only  waiting  the  Declaration  of  War  to  commence 
Hostilities  this  they  told  Kenzie  In  confidence  on  the  loth  of  July 
Capt.  Heald  got  the  information  of  War  being  declared  &  on  the  8th. 
of  august  got  Genl.  Hull's  order  to  Evacuate  the  Post  of  Fort  Dear- 
borne  by  the  route  of  Detroit  or  Fort  Wayne  if  Practicable.  This 
Letter  was  brot  by  a  Potowautemie  Chief  Winnemeg  &  he  informed 
Capt.  Heald  through  Kenzie  to  evacuate  immediately  the  next  day 
if  possible  as  the  Indians  were  hostile  &  that  the  Troops  should 
change  the  usual  Route  to  go  to  Fort  Wayne.  [The  Evacuation  took 
place  on  the  15  August  prior  to  this]  Capt.  William  Wells  arrived  from 
Fort  Wayne  on  the  i2th  August  with  27  Miamis  and  after  a  council 

«** The  narrative,  like  the  letter  (supra),  is  copied  from  the  original  manuscript  in  the 
Detroit  Public  Library.  The  tabular  list  of  the  survivors  of  the  massacre  which  seems  to 
have  accompanied  the  narrative  is  written  in  pencil  and  on  paper  of  a  different  size  than 
that  used  for  the  narrative  proper.  The  sheet  is  in  such  condition  that  a  number  of  the 
names  would  be  undecipherable  but  for  the  light  shed  by  a  comparison  with  the  Fort 
Dearborn  muster-roll  of  May  31,  1812. 


yC-fonq^gg^^fea 


LIEUTENANT  HELM'S  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  FORT  DEARBORN 

MASSACRE 

(By  courtesy  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society) 


APPENDIX  VI  417 

being  held  by  him  with  the  tribes  there  assembled  to  amount  of  500 
warriors  179  women  &  children  he  after  council  declared  them  Hostile 
&  that  his  opinion  was  that  they  would  interupt  us  on  our  route. 
Capt.  Wells  enquered  into  the  State  of  the  arms,  ammunition  &  Pro- 
visions [of  the  fort]  we  had  200  stand  of  arms  [over  them]  four  pieces  of 
artillery  6000  Ib  of  Powder  &  a  sufficient  quantity  of  shot  Lead  &c. 
3  Months  provisions  taken  in  Indian  Corn  &  all  this  on  on  the  i2th. 
Of  August  having  prior  to  this  expended  3  month  Provisions  at  Least 
in  the  interval  between  the  yth  &  the  1 2th  of  august,  exclusive  of  this 
we  had  at  our  command  200  Head  of  Horned  Cattle  &  27  barrels  of 
Salt — after  this  Survey  [Kinzie]  Wells  demanded  of  Capt  Heald  if  he 
intended  to  evacuate,  his  answer  was  he  would.  Kenzie  then  with 
Lt.  Helm  cald  on  Wells  and  requested  him  to  call  on  Capt  Heald  and 
cause  the  ammunition  &  arms  to  be  destroyed  but  Capt  Wells  insisted 
on  Kenzie  &  Helm  to  join  with  him  This  being  done  Capt  Heald 
Hestitated  &  observed  that  it  was  not  sound  Pollicy  to  tell  a  lie  to  an 
Indian  that  he  had  received  a  positive  order  from  Gen.  Hull  to  deliver 
up  to  those  Indians  all  the  public  Property  of  whatsoever  nature  par- 
ticularly to  those  Indians  that  would  take  in  the  Troops  &  that  he  could 
not  alter  it,  &  that  it  might  irritate  the  Indians  &  be  the  means  of  the 
Destruction  of  his  Men  Kenzie  Volunteered  to  take  the  responsi- 
bility on  himself  provided  Capt  Heald  would  consider  the  Method  he 
would  point  out  a  safe  one.  He  agreed,  Kenzie  wrote  an  order  as  if 
from  Genl.  Hull  &  gave  it  into  Capt  Heald  it  was  supposed  to  answer 
&  accordingly  was  carried  into  effect.  The  ammunition  &  Muskets 
were  all  destroyed  the  night  of  the  i3th,  the  i5th.  we  evacuated  the 
Garrison  &  about  one  and  [a]  half  mile  from  the  Garrison  we  were 
informed  by  Capt  Wells  that  we  were  surrounded  &  the  attack  by 
the  Indians  began,  about  10  of  the  Clock  Morning  the  men  in  a  few 
minutes  were  with  the  exception  of  10  all  killed  and  wounded  the 
Ensign  and  Surgeons  Mate  were  both  killed  the  Capt  and  myself 
both  badly  wounded  during  the  battle  I  fired  my  piece  at  an  Indean 
and  felt  confident  I  killed  him  or  wounded  him  badly,  I  immediately 
called  to  the  men  to  follow  me  in  the  pirara  or  we  would  be  shot  down 
before  we  could  load  our  guns  we  had  preceded  under  a  heavy  fire 
about  an  hundred  &  5  paces  when  I  made  a  wheel  to  the  left  to  observe 
the  motion  of  the  Indeans  and  avoid  being  shot  in  the  back  which  I 
had  so  far  miraculously  escaped  Just  as  I  wheeled  I  received  a  ball 


4i8  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

through  my  coat  pocket  which  struck  the  barrel  of  my  gun  and  fell 
in  the  lineing  of  my  coat  in  a  few  seconds  I  received  a  ball  in  my  right 
foot  which  lamed  me  considerably  the  Indeans  happened  immediately 
to  stop  firing  and  nevour  more  renewed  it  I  immediately  ordered  the 
men  that  were  able,  to  load  their  guns  and  commence  loadin  for  them 
that  were  not  able,  I  now  discovered  captain  Heald  for  the  first  time 
to  my  knowledge  during  the  battle,  he  was  coming  from  towards  the 
Indeans  and  to  my  great  surprise  they  nevour  offered  to  fire  on  him 
he  came  up  and  ordered  the  men  to  form  that  his  intentions  were  to 
charge  the  boddy  of  indeans  that  were  on  the  bank  of  the  Lake 
where  we  had  just  retreated  from  they  appeared  to  be  about  300 
strong  we  were  27  including  all  the  wounded  he  advanced  about  5 
steps  and  not  atal  to  my  surprise  was  the  first  that  halted  some  of  the 
men  fell  back  instead  of  advanceing  we  then  gained  the  only  high  piece 
of  ground  their  was  near,  we  now  had  a  little  time  to  reflect  and  saw 
death  in  every  direction,  at  this  time  an  interpiter  from  the  In[d]eans 
advanced  towards  us  and  called  for  the  Captain  who  immediately 
went  to  meet  him  (the  interpiter  was  a  half  indean  and  had  lived  a 
long  time  within  a  few  yards  of  the  fort  and  bound  to  Mr.  Kinzie  he 
was  allways  very  friendly  with  us  all)  a  chief  by  the  name  of  Blackbird 
advanced  to  the  interpiter  [the  capt]  and  met  the  Capt  who  after  a  few 
words  conversation  delivered  him  his  sword  and  in  a  few  minutes 
returned  to  us  and  informed  me  he  had  offered  100  dollars  for  every 
man  that  was  then  liveing,  he  sayed  they  were  then  decideing  on  what 
to  do,  they  however  in  a  few  minutes  called  him  again  and  talked  with 
him  some  time  when  he  returned  and  informed  me  they  had  agreed 
if  I  and  the  men  would  surrender  by  laying  down  our  arms  they  would 
lay  down  theirs  meet  us  half  way  shake  us  by  the  hand  as  friends  and 
take  us  back  to  the  fort.  I  asked  him  if  he  knew  what  they  intended 
doing  with  us  then,  he  sayed  they  did  not  informe  him  he  asked  me  if 
I  would  surrender,  the  men  were  at  this  time  crouding  to  my  back  and 
began  to  beg  me  not  to  surrender.  I  told  them  not  to  be  uneasy  for  I 
had  already  done  my  best  for  them  and  was  determined  not  to  sur- 
render unless  I  saw  better  prospects  of  us  all  being  saved  and  then  not 
without  [their  being]  they  were  willing  the  Capt  asked  me  the  [third] 
second  time  what  I  would  doo  without  an  answer,  I  discovered  the 
interpiter  at  this  time  running  from  the  Indeans  towards  us  and  when 
he  came  in  about  20  steps  the  Capt  put  the  Question  the  third  time 


APPENDIX  VI  419 

the  Interpiter  called  out  Lieut  dont  surrender  for  if  you  doo  they  will 
kill  you  all  for  their  has  been  no  general  council  held  with  them  yet 
you  must  wait  and  I  will  go  back  and  hold  a  general  council  with 
them  and  return  and  let  you  know  what  they  will  doo.    I  told  him 
to  go  for  I  had  no  Ideah  of  surrender  he  went  and  collected  all  the 
indeans  and  talked  for  some  time,  when  he  returned  and  told  me  [if]  the 
Indeans  sayed  if  I  would  surrender  as  before  described  they  would  not 
kill  any  [of  us]  and  sayed  it  was  his  opinion  they  would  doo  as  they 
sayed  for  they  had  already  saved  Mr.  Kinzie  and  some  of  the  women 
and  children    this  enlivened  me  and  the  men  for  we  well  knew  Mr. 
Kinzie  stood  higher  than  anny  man  in  that  country  among  the  Indeans 
and  he  might  be  the  means  of  saveing  us  from  utter  destruction  which 
afterwards  proved  to  be  the  case  we  then  surrendered  and  after  the 
Indeans  had  fired  of  our  guns  they  put  the  Capt  myself  and  some  of 
the  wounded  men  on  horses  and  marched  us  to  the  bank  of  the  lake 
where  the  battle  first  commenced  when  we  arrived  at  the  bank  and 
looked  down  on  the  sand  beach  I  was  struck  with  horror  at  the  sight 
of  men  women  and  children  lying  naked  with  principally  all  their 
heads  off,  and  in  passing  over  the  bodies  I  was  confident  I  saw  my 
wife  with  her  head  off  about  two  feet  from  her  sholders  tears  for  the 
first  time  rushed  in  my  eyes  but  I  consoled  myself  with  a  firm  belief 
that  I  should  soon  follow  her,  I  now  began  to  repent  that  I  had  ever 
surrendered  but  it  was  two  late  to  recall  and  we  had  only  to  look  up 
to  him  who  first  caused  our  existence,  when  we  had  arrived  in  half  a 
mile  of  the  Fort  they  halted  us  made  the  men  sit  down  form  a  ring 
round  them  began  to  take  off  their  hats  and  strip  the  Capt    they 
attempted  to  strip  me  but  were  prevented  by  a  chief  who  stuck  close 
to  me,  I  made  signes  to  him  that  I  wanted  to  drink  for  the  weather 
was  very  warm    he  led  me  off  towards  the  Fort  and  to  my  great 
astonishment  saw  my  wife  siting  among  some  squaws  crying  our 
feelings  can  be  better  judged  than  expressed    they  brought  some 
water  and  directed  her  to  wash  and  dress  my  wound  which  she  did 
and  bound  it  up  with  her  pocket  handkerchief,  they  then  brought 
up  some  of  the  men  and  tommyhawked  [s0we]  one  of  them  before  us, 
they  now  took  Mrs.  Helm  across  the  river  (for  we  were  nearly  on  its 
bank)  to  Mr.  Kinzies,  we  met  again  at  my  Fathers  in  the  state  of 
New  York  she  having  arrived  seven  days  before  me  after  being  sepe- 
rated  seven  months  and  one  week  she  was  taken  in  the  direction  of 


420  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Detroit  and  I  was  taken  down  the  Illinois  river  and  was  sold  to  Mr. 
Thomas  Forsyth  half  brother  of  Mr.  Kinzies  who  a  short  time  after 
effected  my  escape,  this  Gentleman  was  the  means  of  saveing  many 
lives  on  the  Warring  frontier  I  was  taken  on  the  i$th  of  August  and 
arrived  safe  among  the  americans  at  St.  Louis  on  the  i4th.  of  October. 

Captain  Heald  through  Kenzie  sending  his  two  Negroes  got  put 
on  board  a  Indean  boat  going  to  St.  Joseph  &  from  that  place  got  to 
Makinac  by  Lake  Michigan  in  a  Birch  Canoe — The  night  of  the  i4th 
the  Interpreter  and  a  Chief  black  patredge  waited  on  Capt  Heald 
the  Indian  gave  up  his  medal  &  told  Heald  to  beware  of  the  next  day 
that  the  Indians  Would  destroy  him  &  his  men  this  Heald  never  com- 
municated to  one  of  his  officers  there  was  but  Capt  Wells  that  was 
acquainted  with  it  you  will  observe  Sir  that  I  did  with  Kenzie  protest 
against  Destroying  the  arms  ammunition  and  Provisions  untill  that 
Heald  told  me  positively  that  he  would  evacuate  at  all  Hasards — 

15  of  August  we  evacuated  the  Fort  the  number  of  soldiers  was 
52  privates  &  musichn  4  officers  &  Physician  14  Citizens  18  children 
and  9  women,  the  baggage  being  in  front  with  the  Citizens  Women  and 
Children  I  [could  not]  &  on  the  [Beach]  Margin  of  the  Lake  we  having 
advanced  to  gain  the  Prarie  I  could  not  see  the  massacre  but  Kinzie 
with  Doctor  Van  Vorees  being  ordered  by  Capt  Heald  to  take  charge 
of  the  Women  &  children  remained  on  the  Beach  &  Kinzie  since  told 
me  he  was  an  Eye  witness  to  the  Horred  scene  the  Indians  came  down 
on  the  baggage  waggons  for  Plunder  they  Butchered  every  male 
citizen  but  Kenzie  two  women  &  12  Children  in  the  most  inhuman 
manner  Possible  opened  them  cutting  off  their  Heads  &  taken  out 
their  Hearts,  several  of  the  women  were  wounded  but  not  dangerously. 

[Endorsed  on  back]  Mr.  Helm.    Nov.  10,  1815. 

Nathan  Heald  i.  Released. 

Lina  T.  Helm  2  Do 

Nathan  Edson  3    

Elias  Mills  4    

Thos.  Point  Dexter  5    

August  Mort  6  Died  Natural 

James  Latta  7  Killed 

Michael  Lynch  8  Killed 

John  Suttinfield  9  Killed 

John  Smith  Senr.  10  Released 

John  Smith  Junr.  1 1    


APPENDIX  VI 


421 


Nathan  Hurt 
Richard  Garner 
Paul  Grumo 
James  Vanhorn 
Wm  Griffiths 
Joseph  Bowen 
John  Fury 
John  Crozier 
John  Needs 
Daniel  Daugherty 
Dyson  Dyer 
John  [Prestly]  Andrews 
James  Starr 
Joseph  Noles 
James  Corbin 
Fielding  Corbin 
Citizens 

Jos.  Burns 


1 2  Deserted 

13  Killed 

14    


1 6  Supposed  to  be  a 

17  frenchman  and  Released 


18 

iQ 

20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 

Deserted 

Killed 
Killed 
Killed 

»  j  Mortally  wounded 
(  since  killed 


Prisoners. 


[Names  of  women  on  reverse  page] 

Women  taken  prisoners. 
Mrs.  Heald  Released. 

Mrs.  Helm  Do 

Mrs.  Holt 
Mrs.  Burns 
Mrs.  Leigh 
Mrs.  Simmons 
Mrs.  Needs 

Killed  in  the  action  j 

Mrs.  Corbin 

Mrs.  Heald's  Negro  woman  ) 

Children  yet  in  Captivity 

Mrs.  Leigh's  2  one  Since  Dead  N  D 

Mrs.  Burns  2 

Mrs.  Simmonfs]  i 

13  Children  Killed  during  the  action 

1 1  Citizens  including  Capt.  Wells. 

John  Kinzie  taken  but  not  considered  as  a  Prisoner  of  War 


54  Rank  &  file  left  the  Garrison 


APPENDIX  VII 

LETTER  OF  JUDGE  AUGUSTUS  B.  WOODWARD  TO  COLONEL 

PROCTOR  CONCERNING  THE  SURVIVORS  OF  THE 

CHICAGO  MASSACRED 

MICHIGAN,  oct.  7,  12. 

SIR,  It  is  already  known  to  you  that  on  Saturday  the  fifteenth 
day  of  August  last,  an  order  having  been  given  to  evacuate  fort  dear- 
born, an  attack  was  made  by  the  savages  of  the  vicinity  on  the  troops 
and  persons  appertaining  to  that  garrison,  on  their  march,  and  at  the 
distance  of  about  [after  before  they  had  marched]  three  miles  from  the 
fort  [three  of  the  survivors  of  that  terrible  massacre]  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  number  barbarously  and  inhumanly  massacred.  Three 
of  the  survivors  of  that  unhappy  and  terrible  disaster  having  since 
reached  this  country  I  have  employed  some  pains  to  collect  the 
number  and  names  of  those  who  were  not  immediately  slain  and  to 
ascertain  whether  any  hopes  might  yet  be  entertained  of  saving  the 
remainder.  It  is  on  this  subject  that  I  wish  to  interest  your  feelings 
and  to  solicit  the  benefit  of  your  interposition  convinced  that  you 
[will  ever]  estimate  humanity  among  the  brightest  virtues  of  the  soldier. 
[On  the  policy  of  associating  uncivilized  men  in  the  hostile  operations  of 
civilized  powers,  or  on  the  rules  and  limitations  on  which  a  savage  force 
if  employed  at  all  should  be  regulated,  I  will  say  nothing  because  I  am 
impressed  with  a  strong  conviction  that  if  any  British  officer  had  been 
present  on  this  melancholy  occasion  the  consequences  would  have  been 
extremely  different,  infinitely  less  to  be  regretted.] 

I  find,  Sir,  that  the  party  consisted  of  ninety-three  persons.  Of 
these  the  [regular]  military  [forces]  including  officers,  non-commissioned 
officers,  and  privates,  amounted  to  fifty-four.  The  [militia]  citizens 
not  acting  in  a  military  capacity  consisted  of  twelve.  The  number 
of  women  was  nine  and  that  of  the  children  eighteen.  The  whole  of 
the  citizens  were  slaughtered,  two  women,  and  twelve  children.  Of 

«*'  Copied  from  the  original  rough  draft  of  the  letter  in  the  Detroit  Public  Library. 
The  letter  as  actually  sent  differed  slightly  from  the  rough  draft.  The  latter  is  presented 
here  with  all  its  erasures  and  changes.  Words  and  phrases  crossed  out  in  the  original 
manuscript  are  printed  in  italics  and  placed  within  brackets. 

422 


APPENDIX  VII  423 

the  military  twenty-six  were  killed  at  the  time  of  the  attack,  and 
accounts  have  [reached]  arrived  of  at  least  [four]  five  of  the  surviving 
prisoners  having  been  put  to  death  in  the  course  of  [that]  the  same 
night.  There  will  remain  then  twenty-[/0«r]three  of  the  military, 
seven  women  and  six  children,  whose  fate  with  the  exception  of  the 
three  who  have  come  in,  and  of  two  others  who  are  known  [under- 
stood] to  be  in  safety  at  St.  Joseph's,  remains  to  be  yet  ascertained. 
Of  these  [/  will  fur] — amounting — [to]  in  all  to  thirty-one  persons  I 
will  furnish  you  with  the  names  of  all  that  I  have  been  able  to 
identify.  First.  There  is  one  officer  a  lieutenant,  of  the  name  of 
Linah  T.  Helm,  with  whom  I  have  had  the  happiness  of  a  personal 
acquaintance.  His  father  is  a  [respectable]  gentleman  of  Virginia  & 
of  the  first  respectability  who  has  since  settled  in  the  state  of  New 
York.  He  is  an  officer  of  great  merit  and  the  most  unblemished 
character.  The  lady  of  this  gentleman  a  young  and  [beautiful] 
amiable  victim  of  misfortune  was  separated  from  her  husband.  She 
was  delivered  up  to  her  father-in-law,  [a  British  subject,]  who  was 
present,  [but]  Mrs.  Helm  was  transported  into  the  Indian  country  a 
hundred  miles  from  the  scene  of  action  and  has  not  since  been  heard 
of  at  this  place.  Second.  Of  six  non-commissioned  officers  four 
survived  the  action.  [Their  names  are]  John  Crozier  a  sergeant, 
Daniel  Dougherty  a  corporal,  and  one  other  corporal  by  the  name  of 
Bowen.  The  other  is  William  Griffin  a  serjeant  who  is  now  here. 
[In  addition  to]  With  these  may  be  included  John  Fifer  Smith  a  fifer. 

Third.  Of  the  privates  it  is  said  that  five,  and  it  is  not  known 
how  many  more  were  put  to  death  in  the  night  after  the  action.  Of 
those  who  are  said  to  have  thus  suffered  I  have  only  been  able  to 
collect  the  names  of  two  Richard  Garner  and  James  Latte.  Mr. 
Burns  a  citizen  severely  wounded  was  killed  by  a  squaw  in  the  day 
time  about  an  hour  after  the  action.  There  will  thus  remain 
to  be  accounted  for  of  whom  I  can  only  give  the  following  names — 
Micajah  Dennison  and  John  Fury  were  so  badly  wounded  in  the 
action  that  [perh]  little  hope  was  indulged  of  their  recovery.  Dyson 
Dyer,  William  Nelson  Hunt,  Duncan  McCarty,  Augustus  Mott, 
John  Smith  Senior,  father  of  John  Smith  before  named  as  a  fifer, 
James  Van  Horn. 

Fourth.    Of  the  [six]  five  women  whose  fate  remains  to  be  ascer- 
tained I  am  enabled  to  give  the  names  of  all.    They  were  Mrs.  Burns 


424  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

wife  to  the  citizen  before  mentioned  as  killed  after  the  attack.  Mrs. 
Holt,  Mrs.  Lee,  Mrs.  Needs,  Mrs.  Simmons.  Among  these  women 
were  six  children  saved  out  of  the  whole  number  which  was  eighteen, 
part  of  them  belonging  to  the  surviving  mothers  &  part  to  those  who 
were  slain.  [The]  As  to  the  means  of  preserving  them  I  can  only 
suggest  the  sending  a  special  messenger  to  that  quarter  charged  with 
collecting  the  prisoners  who  may  survive  and  transmitting  them  to 
Michillimackinac.  A  communication  to  Capt.  Roberts  at  that  place 
may  co-operate. 
[The  per  mis} 
[Endorsed]  Chicago  prisoners,  Oct.  7.  1812. 


APPENDIX  VIII 


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APPENDIX  VIII 


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APPENDIX  IX 

THE  FATED  COMPANY:   A  DISCUSSION  OF  THE  NAMES  AND 

FATE  OF  THE  WHITES  INVOLVED  IN  THE  FORT 

DEARBORN  MASSACRE 

No  comprehensive  record  of  the  names  and  fate  of  those  who  com- 
posed the  company  which  marched  out  of  Fort  Dearborn  under  Cap- 
tain Heald  on  the  morning  of  August  15,  1812,  has  ever  been  made. 
Here  for  the  first  tune,  a  hundred  years  after  the  massacre,  an  effort 
is  made  to  supply  such  a  record.  Such  success  as  has  been  achieved 
is  due  to  a  study,  in  addition  to  the  sources  of  information  which  have 
been  used  by  previous  workers  in  the  local  historical  field,  of  several 
new  sources  unknown  to  or  unused  by  students  hitherto.  The  most 
important  of  these  is  the  Fort  Dearborn  muster-roll  for  May  31,  1812. 
This,  together  with  the  list  of  survivors  given  by  Lieutenant  Helm, 
the  data  left  by  Captain  Heald,969  and  the  letter  of  Judge  Woodward 
to  Colonel  Proctor  constitutes  the  basis  of  the  present  study. 

At  the  outset  of  the  effort  to  name  and  account  for  the  members 
of  the  fatal  company,  a  difficulty  is  encountered  concerning  the  pre- 
cise number  of  regular  soldiers  in  Heald's  company.  In  his  official 
Report,  Heald  stated  that  his  force  of  regulars  numbered  fifty-four. 
Whether  he  intended  to  include  himself  in  this  number  is  not  clear. 
The  tabular  statement,  preserved  among  his  papers,  of  the  composi- 
tion of  his  force  and  its  fate,  which  gives  the  total  strength  of  his 
company  as  fifty-four,  exactly  one-half  of  whom  were  slain,  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  he  did.  Yet  the  latter  document  disagrees 
with  the  Report  in  the  number  of  slain,  which  the  Report  gives  as 
twenty-six.  Turning  to  Heald's  Journal  we  find  the  number  of 
soldiers  slain  in  the  battle  placed  at  twenty-six,  and  the  number  of 
survivors  at  twenty-seven,  which  would  give  a  total  strength  of  fifty- 

»*»  Aside  from  the  Fort  Dearborn  muster-roll  for  May  31,  1812,  the  papers  left  by 
Heald  which  are  of  chief  importance  for  our  subject  are  the  following:  the  official  report 
of  the  evacuation  (Appendix  IV);  Heald's  Journal  (Appendix  III);  the  Fort  Dearborn 
quarterly  returns  for  the  quarter  ending  June  30,  1812;  the  monthly  return  for  June,  1812; 
a  tabular  statement  concerning  the  troops  engaged  in  the  massacre  and  their  fate;  a  sum- 
mary statement  concerning  the  women,  and  concerning  the  men  who  perished  in  captivity. 
With  the  exception  of  the  official  report  all  of  these  papers  are  in  the  Draper  Collection. 

428 


APPENDIX  IX  429 

three.  There  is  reason  for  believing  that  the  number  of  regulars 
slain  in  the  battle  was  in  fact  twenty-six,  but  it  is  manifestly  imprac- 
ticable to  determine  certainly,  from  the  accounts  left  by  Heald,  the 
exact  strength  of  his  company  on  the  morning  of  the  massacre. 
Heald  had,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  the  garrison  muster-roll  for  May  31, 
1812,  and  other  contemporary  records,  and  these  are  still  preserved. 
An  examination  of  them  suggests  an  explanation  of  the  reason  for 
his  conflicting  statements.  The  garrison  muster-roll  for  May  31  and 
the  monthly  return  for  June  each  show  a  strength  of  fifty-five  men, 
while  the  quarterly  return  of  June  30  and  the  inspection  return  of  the 
same  date  show  a  strength  of  fifty-four.  The  first  two  agree  in  show- 
ing four  officers  and  fifty-one  non-commissioned  officers,  musicians, 
and  privates  present;  the  third  shows  three  officers  and  fifty-one  of 
lesser  rank  present,  and  the  fourth  four  officers  and  fifty  of  lesser  rank. 
There  is  disagreement,  then,  between  the  contemporary  returns  over 
the  number  of  the  garrison  at  the  end  of  June;  yet  it  is  evident  that 
its  nominal  strength  at  that  time  was  four  officers  and  fifty-one  men 
of  lesser  rank,  although  one  of  the  fifty-five  may  possibly  have  been 
absent.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  there  was  any  alteration 
in  this  number  between  the  end  of  June  and  the  fifteenth  of  August. 
Without  venturing  to  say  that  there  is  any  unquestionable  preponder- 
ance of  evidence  that  the  strength  of  Heald's  company,  including 
himself,  on  the  latter  date  was  fifty-five  rather  than  fifty-four,  from 
a  consideration  of  all  the  factors  involved  I  incline  to  believe  that  it 
was.  In  the  calculations  and  statements  that  follow,  therefore,  it  is 
to  be  understood  that  the  total  number  of  regular  soldiers  involved 
in  the  massacre  is  reckoned  as  fifty-five. 

Including  the  commander,  then,  ninety-six  persons  comprised  the 
doomed  company  which  evacuated  the  fort  on  the  morning  of  the 
fifteenth  of  August.  These  fall  logically  into  several  groups,  varying 
greatly  as  to  size :  John  Kinzie,  a  neutral  and  non-combatant;  Wells, 
the  leader  of  the  Miamis;  the  nine  women  and  eighteen  children  of 
the  company;  the  twelve  Chicago  residents  composing  Heald's 
"militia"  company;  and  finally  the  fifty-five  regulars.  The  first  two 
of  these  require  but  little  consideration  here,  as  the  fortune  of  each 
has  been  discussed  elsewhere.  Wells  was  slain,  while  Kinzie  passed 
unscathed  even  through  the  carnage  around  the  wagons  where  not 
another  white  man  escaped  with  his  life. 


430  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

There  is  no  uncertainty  respecting  the  fate  of  the  women  of  the 
company.  The  subject  has  already  been  discussed  at  length  and 
only  a  brief  recapitulation  need  be  given  here. 

No.  Name  Fate 

1  Cicely,  Mrs.  Heald 's  negro  slave ....  Killed  in  battle 

2  Mrs.  Fielding  Corbin Killed  in  battle 

3  Mrs.  Heald Returned  to  civilization 

4  Mrs.  Helm Returned  to  civilization 

5  Mrs.  Lee Returned  to  civilization  (Ran- 

somed by  Depain  and  Buisson 
at  Chicago) 

6  Mrs.  Holt Returned  to  civilization  (Possibly 

the    woman    ransomed    along 
with  Mrs.  Lee) 

7  Mrs.  Burns Returned  to  civilization 

8  Mrs.  Simmons Returned  to  civilization 

9  Mrs.  Needs Died  in  captivity  of  exposure  and 

hardship 

Of  the  eighteen  children  in  the  massacre  only  a  very  incomplete 
record  can  be  made  from  the  sources  that  have  come  to  light  thus  far. 
Neither  Mrs.  Heald  nor  Mrs.  Helm  had  children ;  each  of  the  remain- 
ing seven  women,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Mrs.  Corbin,  had 
one  or  more.  Mrs.  Burns  had  several,  some  of  whom  bore  her  former 
name  of  Cooper;  probably  several  belonged  to  Mrs.  Lee.  Black 
Cicely  had  one  child,  and  Mrs.  Simmons  two.  One  child  each  at 
least,  and  perhaps  more,  belonged  to  Mrs.  Needs  and  Mrs.  Holt. 
Twelve  of  the  children  perished  in  the  massacre,  most  of  them  hi  one 
wagon  at  the  hands  of  a  single  fiend,  and  six  survived  it.  One  of  these, 
the  Needs  child,  met  perhaps  the  saddest  fate  of  all  the  company, 
being  tied  to  a  tree  by  the  savages  and  left  behind  to  die.  The  other 
five  returned  with  their  mothers  to  civilization.  Two  of  them 
belonged  to  Mrs.  Burns,  and  one  each  to  Mrs.  Simmons,  Mrs.  Holt, 
and  Mrs.  Lee. 

Unless  additional  sources  of  information  shall  come  to  light,  the 
names  of  most  of  the  members  of  the  Chicago  "militia"  will  forever 
remain  unknown.  All  of  the  twelve  men  were  killed  in  the  combat 
except  the  leader,  Thomas  Burns,  who,  badly  wounded,  wras  killed 
a  short  time  later  by  a  squaw.  One  of  his  followers  was  his  stepson, 


APPENDIX  IX  431 

Joseph,  or  James,  Cooper;  Lee,  the  farmer,  must  have  been  another 
although  there  is  no  positive  record  to  this  effect.  Of  the  others  the 
names  of  but  one  or  two  can  be  conjectured  even.  If  the  boy  who 
escaped  from  the  April  massacre  was  the  son  of  Lee,  he  doubtless  was 
one  of  the  militiamen.  Probably  Louis  Fettle,  who  lived  at  Chicago 
from  1803  to  1812  and  then  disappeared  from  recorded  history,  was 
still  another.  In  this  connection  the  conjecture  may  be  hazarded  that 
Pierre  LeClaire,  the  half-breed  interpreter,  was  one  of  the  twelve. 
Griffith  represents  that  he  deserted  at  the  beginning  of  the  fight,  for 
which  Griffith  at  first  intended  to  kill  him,  but  relented  when  LeClaire 
pleaded  that  it  was  the  only  way  to  save  his  life.  If  the  suggestion 
that  LeClaire  was  one  of  the  militiamen  be  accepted,  the  statements 
of  Heald  and  others  that  all  of  them  perished  must  be  regarded  as 
erroneous.  This  view,  however,  would  explain  Heald's  statement  in 
his  Journal,  otherwise  erroneous,  that  twelve  militia,  including  Wells 
perished. 

I  have  reserved  for  consideration  last  the  most  perplexing  prob- 
lem, that  concerning  the  regulars  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  garrison.  The 
names  of  the  fifty-five  men  are  preserved  in  the  muster-roll  of  May  3 1 , 
1812.  The  only  man  who  attempted  to  record  the  names  of  those 
who  survived  the  battle  was  Helm,  and  his  list,  while  incomplete, 
and  inaccurate  in  various  respects,  furnishes  the  most  convenient 
starting-point  for  determining  the  names  of  those  slain  in  the  battle, 
and  the  subsequent  fate  of  the  survivors.  Excluding  Burns,  the 
militiaman,  Helm  lists  the  following  twenty-seven  survivors: 

1.  Captain  Nathan  Heald  15.  Private  Paul  Grummo 

2.  Lieutenant  Lina  T.  Helm  16.  Private  Wm.  N.  Hunt 

3.  Sergeant  John  Crozier  17.  Private  James  Latta 

4.  Sergeant  Wm.  Griffith  18.  Private  Michael  Lynch 

5.  Corporal  Joseph  Bowen  19.  Private  Elias  Mills 

6.  John  Smith,  fifer  20.  Private  August  Mortt 

7.  Private  Prestly  Andrews  21.  Private  John  Needs 

8.  Private  Fielding  Corbin  22.  Private  Joseph  Noles 

9.  Private  James  Corbin  23.  Private  Thomas  Poindexter 

10.  Private  Daniel  Daugherty  24.  Private  John  Smith 

11.  Private  Dyson  Dyer  25.  Private  James  Starr 

12.  Private  Nathan  Edson  26.  Private  John  Suttenfield 

13.  Private  John  Fury  27.  Private  James  Van  Horn 

14.  Private  Richard  Garner 


432  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

As  far  as  it  goes  the  accuracy  of  this  list  is  confirmed  by  other  sources 
of  information,  except  for  Andrews  and  Starr,  concerning  whose  fate 
there  is  no  mention  elsewhere.  On  the  other  hand  Woodward,  whose 
information  was  obtained  from  Ileald  and  Griffith,  names  Denison 
and  McCarty,  the  former  badly  wounded,  among  the  survivors;  the 
report  of  the  nine  survivors  who  arrived  at  Plattsburg,  New  York,  in 
1814,  adds  the  name  of  Hugh  Logan;  while  David  Kennison,  who 
was  buried  at  Chicago  with  great  civic  pomp  forty  years  later,  evi- 
dently survived  the  massacre  despite  the  fact  that  his  name  does  not 
appear  in  any  of  the  sources.  We  have,  therefore,  the  names  of 
thirty-one  survivors,  three  more  than  there  actually  were.  Probably 
two  of  the  names  in  error  are  those  of  Andrews  and  Starr,  mentioned 
above;  possibly  the  third  is  that  of  Logan,  although  obviously  there 
can  be  certainty  respecting  none  of  the  three.  A  comparison  of  this 
list  with  the  complete  garrison  roll  discloses  the  names  of  those  cer- 
tainly slain  in  the  battle,  twenty-four  in  number,  as  follows: 

1.  Surgeon  Isaac  VanVoorhis  13.  Private  Nathan  A.  Hurtt 

2.  Ensign  George  Ronan  14.  Private  Rhodias  Jones 

3.  Sergeant  Isaac  Holt  15.  Private  Samuel  Kilpatrick 

4.  Sergeant  Otho  Hays  16.  Private  John  Kelso 

5.  Corporal  Thomas  Forth  17.  Private  Jacob  Landon 

6.  George  Burnett,  fifer  18.  Private  Frederick  Locker 

7.  John  Hamilton,  drummer  19.  Private  Peter  Miller 

8.  Hugh  McPherson,  drummer  20.  Private  Wm.  Moffett 

9.  Private  John  Allin  21.  Private  Wm.  Prickett 

10.  Private  George  Adams  22.  Private  Frederick  Peterson 

11.  Private  Asa  Campbell  23.  Private  David  Sherror 

12.  Private  Stephen  Draper  24.  Private  John  Simmons 

There  were  twenty-six  slain,  however,  according  to  Heald's  Report 
and  Journal.  The  two  names  needed  to  complete  the  list  are  probably 
those  of  Prestly  Andrews  and  James  Starr. 

We  have  thus  reached,  although  not  with  absolute  certainty  in 
every  case,  the  names  of  twenty-nine  survivors  and  the  twenty-six 
who  lost  their  lives  in  the  battle.  It  remains  to  follow  the  fortunes 
of  the  former  and  trace  out  those  who  perished  in  captivity  and  those 
who  finally  returned  to  their  countrymen.  Helm's  list  is  of  little 
assistance  here,  for  his  account  of  the  fate  of  the  survivors  is  both 
incomplete  and  inaccurate.  The  fate  of  twelve  of  the  twenty-seven 
on  his  list  is  left  a  blank ;  opposite  the  names  of  five  stands  the  word 


APPENDIX  IX  433 

"released,"  and  opposite  two  "deserted."  In  fact,  eleven  perished 
in  captivity  and  eighteen  returned  to  civilization.  It  is  evident  that 
Helm  was  ignorant  of  the  arrival  of  the  nine  Fort  Dearborn  soldiers 
at  Plattsburg  in  the  spring  of  1814,  and  of  the  news  they  brought  of 
their  comrades  who  had  perished  in  the  wilderness.  One  of  the  nine 
he  records  as  killed,  one  as  released,  and  leaves  the  fate  of  the  others 
blank.  Why  Hunt  and  Crozier  should  have  been  set  down  as  deserters 
is  not  apparent.  In  fact,  the  former  froze  to  death  in  captivity,  while 
the  latter  effected  his  release  through  the  agency  of  a  friendly  Indian. 
The  most  practicable  starting-point  for  determining  the  names  of 
those  who  perished  in  captivity  and  those  who  escaped  from  it  is 
afforded  by  Heald's  tabular  statement.  This  indicates  that  twenty- 
seven  survived  the  battle,  nine  of  whom  died  in  captivity,  and  eighteen 
returned  to  civilization.  Our  study,  however,  has  already  established 
the  names  of  twenty-nine  survivors  of  the  battle.  On  the  assump- 
tion, which  there  are  strong  reasons  for  making,  that  the  two  not 
included  in  Heald's  statement  perished  in  captivity,  the  names  of  all 
belonging  to  the  latter  class,  and  of  all  who  were  restored  to  freedom, 
can  be  determined.  Elsewhere  Heald  gives  the  names  of  nine  who 
died  in  captivity.  They  were: 

1.  Richard  Garner  6.  Hugh  Logan 

2.  Wm.  N.  Hunt  7.  John  Needs 

3.  James  Latta  8.  Thomas  Poindexter 

4.  Michael  Lynch  9.  John  Suttenfield 

5.  August  Mortt 

The  accuracy  of  this  list  is  confirmed  by  other  sources  with  respect 
to  all  except  Poindexter,  concerning  whose  fate  there  is  no  mention 
elsewhere.  The  two  names  wanting  to  complete  the  list  of  those  who 
perished  in  captivity  are  Micajah  Denison  and  John  Fury,  who 
according  to  Woodward  were  so  badly  wounded  in  the  battle  that 
but  little  hope  was  entertained  of  their  recovery. 

With  this  list  of  eleven  as  our  basis  it  is  possible  to  determine  with 
reasonable  assurance  the  names  of  the  men  who  were  tortured  to 
death  the  night  following  the  massacre.  Forsyth's  letter  shows  that 
Lynch  and  Suttenfield,  badly  wounded,  were  killed  by  the  Indians, 
while  en  route  to  the  Illinois  River.  The  report  of  the  Plattsburg 
group  of  survivors  accounts  for  the  death  of  four  others.  Hunt  froze 
to  death;  Needs  died  about  the  middle  of  January,  1813,  probably 


434  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

from  the  hardships  of  his  captivity;  Logan  and  Mortt  were  toma- 
hawked because  of  their  inability  to  keep  up  with  their  captors.  The 
five  remaining,  Garner,  Latta,  Denison,  Fury,  and  Poindexter,  are 
evidently  the  men  who  were  tortured  to  death  at  Chicago.  Con- 
cerning the  first  two  we  have  the  positive  statement  of  Woodward  in 
his  letter  to  Proctor.  The  belief  that  this  was  the  fate  of  the  others 
rests,  obviously,  on  inference  and  deduction. 

To  determine  the  names  of  the  eighteen  who  returned  to  civiliza- 
tion it  is  now  necessary  only  to  eliminate  these  eleven  names  from  the 
list  of  the  twenty-nine  survivors  already  given.  Concerning  the 
return  of  twelve  of  the  eighteen  there  are  positive  records,  while  that 
of  Kennison  may  safely  be  inferred  from  our  knowledge  of  his  later 
life  and  death  at  Chicago.  Of  the  other  five  no  mention  or  record 
has  been  found,  and  their  names  are  obtained  only  by  the  process  of 
analysis  which  has  already  been  gone  through.  In  the  list  that 
follows  these  five  are  given  last: 

1.  Captain  Nathan  Heald  10.  Private  Elias  Mills 

2.  Lieutenant  Lina  T.  Helm  n.  Private  Joseph  Noles 

3.  Sergeant  Wm.  Griffith  12.  Private  James  Van  Horn 

4.  Corporal  Joseph  Bowen  13.  Private  David  Kennison 

5.  Private  James  Corbin  14.  Sergeant  John  Crozier 

6.  Private  Fielding  Corbin  15.  Private  Daniel  Daugherty 

7.  Private  Dyson  Dyer  16.  Private  Duncan  McCarty 

8.  Private  Nathan  Edson  17.  John  Smith,  fifer 

9.  Private  Paul  Grummo  18.  Private  John  Smith  (father  of 

the  preceding) 

Although  some  doubt  necessarily  attends  the  conclusions  which 
have  been  reached  concerning  the  fate  of  some  of  the  members  of  the 
Fort  Dearborn  garrison,  practical  certainty  attaches  to  the  conclusion 
reached  concerning  the  great  majority,  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
present  study  is  as  accurate  and  complete  as  can  be  made  with  the 
sources  of  information  at  present  available.  The  study  may  properly 
conclude  with  a  tabular  recapitulation,  embodying  the  conclusions 
reached  as  to  the  names  and  fate  of  the  regular  soldiers  of  the  Fort 
Dearborn  garrison  on  the  morning  of  August  15,  1812. 

1.  Nathan  Heald  Capt.          Returned  to  civilization 

2.  Lina  T.  Helm  and  Lieut.  Returned  to  civilization 

3 .  George  Ronan  Ensign        Killed  in  battle  near  the  baggage  wagons 

4.  Isaac  Van  Voorhis  Surgeon's    Killed  in  battle  near  the  baggage  wagons 

mate 


APPENDIX  IX 


435 


i.  Isaac  Holt 

Sergeant 

Killed  in  battle 

2.  Otho  Hays 

Sergeant 

Killed  in  battle  in  individual  duel  with 

an  Indian 

3.  John  Crozier 

Sergeant 

Returned  to  civilization 

4.  Wm.  Griffith 

Sergeant 

Returned  to  civilization 

i  .  Thomas  Forth 

Corporal 

Killed  in  battle 

2.  Joseph  Bowen 

Corporal 

Returned  to  civilization 

i.  George  Burnett 

Fifer 

Killed  in  battle 

2.  John  Smith 

Fifer 

Returned  to  civilization 

3.  Hugh  McPherson 

Drummer 

Killed  in  battle 

4.  John  Hamilton 

Drummer 

Killed  in  battle 

i.  John  Allin 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

2.  George  Adams 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

3.  Prestly  Andrews 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

4.  James  Corbin 

Private 

Returned  to  civilization 

5.  Fielding  Corbin 

Private 

Returned  to  civilization 

6.  Asa  Campbell 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

7.  Dyson  Dyer 

Private 

Returned  to  civilization 

8.  Stephen  Draper 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

9.  Daniel  Daugherty 

Private 

Returned  to  civilization 

10.  Micajah  Denison 

Private 

Badly  wounded  in  battle;  tortured  to 

death  the  ensuing  night 

n.  Nathan  Edson 

Private 

Returned  to  civilization 

12.  John  Fury 

Private 

Badly  wounded  in  battle;   tortured  to 

death  the  ensuing  night 

13.  Paul  Grummo 

Private 

Returned  to  civilization 

14.  Richard  Garner 

Private 

Tortured  to  death  the  night  after 

the 

massacre 

15.  Wm.  N.  Hunt 

Private 

Frozen  to  death  in  captivity 

1  6.  Nathan  A.  Hurtt 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

17.  Rhodias  Jones 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

1  8.  David  Kennison 

Private 

Returned    to    civilization;     died 

at 

Chicago  in  1852 

19.  Samuel  Kilpatrick 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

20.  John  Kelso 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

21.  Jacob  Landon 

Private 

Killed  in  battle 

22.  James  Latta 

Private 

Tortured  to  death  the  night  after 

the 

massacre 

23.  Michael  Lynch 

Private 

Badly  wounded;  killed  by  the  Indians 

en  route  to  the  Illinois  River 

436 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


24.  Hugh  Logan  Private 

25.  Frederick  Locker  Private 

26.  August  Mortt  Private 

27.  Peter  Miller  Private 

28.  Duncan  McCarty  Private 

29.  Wm.  Moffett  Private 

30.  Elias  Mills  Private 

31.  John  Needs  Private 

32.  Joseph  Noles  Private 

33.  Thos.  Poindexter  Private 

34.  Wm.  Prickett  Private 

35.  Frederick  Peterson  Private 

36.  David  Sherror  Private 

37.  John  Suttenfield  Private 

38.  John  Smith  Private 

39.  James  Starr  Private 

40.  John  Simmons  Private 

41.  James  Van  Horn  Private 


Tomahawked  in  captivity  because  un- 
able to  walk  from  fatigue 

Killed  in  battle 

Tomahawked  in  captivity 

Killed  in  battle 

Returned  to  civilization 

Killed  in  battle 

Returned  to  civilization 

Died  in  captivity 

Returned  to  civilization 

Tortured  to  death  the  night  after  the 
massacre 

Killed  in  battle 

Killed  in  battle 

Killed  in  battle 

Badly  wounded;  killed  by  the  Indians 
while  en  route  to  the  Illinois  River 

Returned  to  civilization 

Killed  in  battle 

Killed  in  battle 

Returned  to  civilization 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Adams,  Henry.    History  of  the  United  States  of  America,  1801-1817  (New 

York,  1903-4).     9  vols. 

The  standard  general  authority  for  the  period  it  covers.  Vol.  VI. 
1811-13,  contains  an  account  of  the  contest  with  Tecumseh,  the  opening 
of  the  War  of  1812,  and  of  Hull's  campaign  and  surrender. 

Alvord,  Clarence  W.     "The  Conquest  of  St.  Joseph,  Michigan,  by  the 
Spaniards  in  1781,"  Missouri  Historical  Review,  II,  195-210. 
A  critical  study,  presenting  a  new  interpretation  of  the  expedition. 

Condemns  sharply  the  prior  study  of  the  same  expedition  by  Mr.  E.  G. 

Mason,  in  his  Chapters  from  Illinois  History. 

American  Fur  Company  invoices  (MS). 

These  papers,  in  the  possession  of  the  Detroit  Public  Library,  are 
useful  for  the  light  they  shed  upon  the  operations  of  the  American  Fur 
Company. 

American  State  Papers.    Documents,   legislative  and  executive,  of   the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  from  the  first  session  of  the  first  to  the 
third  session  of  the  thirteenth  Congress  inclusive. 
The  two  volumes  devoted  to  Indian  affairs  are  the  ones  of  principal 

importance  to  this  work.    They  contain  a  large  mass  of  material  pertaining 

to  the  relations  between  the  Indians  and  the  United  States  during  the  early 

period  of  our  national  existence. 

Andreas,  A.  T.    History  of  Chicago.     From  the  earliest  period  to  the  present 

time  (Chicago,  1884).    3  vols. 

One  of  the  best  of  the  type  of  commercial  histories  compiled  for  popular 
consumption.  Volume  I  treats  of  the  period  covered  by  this  work. 

[Andrews,  George  H.]    Biographical  Sketch  of  James  Watson  Webb  (New 

York,  n.d.).    Pamphlet. 

Reprinted  from  the  Morning  Courier  and  Enquirer,  September  16,  1858. 
A  frankly  laudatory  sketch  by  an  intimate  friend  and  business  associate  of 
the  subject. 

Babcock,  Kendric  Charles.     "The  Rise  of  American  Nationality,  1811- 

1819"  (New  York,  1906). 

Constitutes  Vol.  XIII  of  The  American  Nation:  a  History  (Albert  Bush- 
nell  Hart,  editor). 

Banta,  D.  D.  History  of  Johnson  County,  Indiana.  From  the  earliest 
time  to  the  present,  with  biographical  sketches,  notes,  etc.,  together 
with  a  short  history  of  the  Northwest,  the  Indiana  Territory,  and  the 
state  of  Indiana  (Chicago,  1888). 

439 


440  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Barry,  Rev.  Wm.  Transcript  of  names  in  John  Kinzie's  account  books 
kept  at  Chicago  from  1804  to  1822  (MS). 

The  original  account  books,  four  in  number,  were  burned  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  library  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  in  the  Chicago  Fire  of 
1871.  Before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  James  Grant  Wilson  con- 
ceived the  project  of  writing  a  history  of  early  Chicago  and  commissioned 
Rev.  William  Barry,  founder  and  first  secretary  of  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  to  make  for  his  use  a  complete  transcript  of  the  names  in  Kinzie's 
account  books.  Wilson's  project  never  materialized,  owing  to  the  dis- 
arrangement of  his  plans  and  occupation  caused  by  the  outbreak  of  the 
war.  The  transcript  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society  in  1902.  It  consists  of  about  fifty  closely  written  pages  containing 
about  two  thousand  names,  with  brief  entries  frequently  concerning  the 
commercial  transaction  in  question.  It  was  jealously  guarded  by  Wilson, 
and  since  by  the  Historical  Society,  and  has  never  been  accessible  to  students 
hitherto.  It  is  a  unique  and  valuable  source  of  information  for  the  period 
with  which  it  deals. 

Beaubien  family  genealogy  (MS). 

Compiled  by  Clarence  M.  Burton  of  Detroit.  I  have  used  the  type- 
written copy  presented  by  him  to  the  Chicago  Historical  Society. 

Beggs,  Rev.  S.  R.  Pages  from  the  Early  History  of  the  West  and  Northwest. 
Embracing  reminiscences  and  incidents  of  settlement  and  growth,  and 
sketches  of  the  material  and  religious  progress,  of  the  states  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri,  with  especial  reference  to  the  history 
of  Methodism  (Cincinnati,  1868). 

Beggs  was  a  pioneer  Methodist  preacher  of  northern  Illinois  in  the  early 
thirties.  The  book  contains  a  vivid  account  by  a  participant  of  the  scenes 
of  excitement  at  Chicago  and  in  northern  Illinois  in  1832  in  connection  with 
the  Black  Hawk  War. 

[Benton  Thomas  H.]     Thirty  Years'  View;    or,  a  History  of  the  Working 

of  the  American  Government  for  Thirty  Years,  from  1820  to  1850 

By  a  senator  of  thirty  years  (New  York,  1854).     2  vols. 

Benton  led  the  fight  in  the  Senate  on  the  government  factory  system. 
The  book  contains  a  brief  partisan  account  of  his  activities  in  this  connection. 

Black  Hawk.  Life  of  Ma-ka-tai-me-she-hia-kiak  or  Black  Hawk  ....  with 
an  account  of  the  course  and  general  history  of  the  late  war  .... 
(Boston,  1834). 

The  work,  edited  by  J.  B.  Patterson,  purports  to  have  been  dictated  by 
Black  Hawk  to  Antoine  Le  Clare,  a  half-breed  interpreter.  Its  trustworthi- 
ness has  been  called  in  question,  but  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  has  been 
cited  in  this  work,  at  least,  it  seems  worthy  of  credence. 

Blanchard,  Rufus.  Discovery  and  Conquests  of  the  Northwest  with  the  History 
of  Chicago  (Wheaton,  111.,  1881). 

A  later  edition  of  this  work  was  brought  out  at  Chicago  in  i8g8  in  two 
volumes.  It  is  carelessly  and  uncritically  written,  but  contains  some 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  441 

information  obtained  by  the  author  in  interviews  with  pioneers  which  is 
not  to  be  had  elsewhere. 

Brice,  Wallace  A.  History  of  Fort  Wayne  from  the  Earliest  Known  Accounts 
of  this  Point  to  the  Present  Period  ....  (Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  1868). 

Carter,  Clarence  Edwin.    Great  Britain  and  the  Illinois  Country,  1763-1774 
(Washington,  1910). 
One  of  the  prize  essays  of  the  American  Historical  Association. 

Caton,  John  Dean.    Miscellanies  (Boston,  1880). 

Contains  a  description  by  a  sympathetic  and  highly  intelligent  observer 
of  the  Pottawatomies'  farewell  to  Chicago  in  1835. 

Charlevoix,  P.  de.  Histoire  et  description  generale  de  la  Nouvelle  France, 
avec  le  journal  historique  d'un  voyage  fait  par  ordre  du  rot  dans  I'Amerique 
Septentrionale  (Paris,  1744).  6  vols. 

One  of  the  best  of  the  seventeenth-century  accounts  of  New  France. 
The  first  four  volumes  comprise  the  Histoire  .  .  .  .  de  la  Nouvelle  France; 
the  last  two  constitute  the  journal  and  bear  the  separate  title  Journal 
d'un  voyage  fait  par  ordre  du  Roi  dans  I'Amerique  Septentrionale;  addresse 
a  Madame  la  Duchesse  de  Lesdiguieres.  The  Histoire  has  been  translated 
into  English  by  John  G.  Shea  (q.v.)  and  there  are  two  English  editions  of 
the  Journal. 

Charlevoix,  Father.  Letters  to  the  Duchess  of  Lesdiguieres;  Giving  an  Account 
of  a  Voyage  to  Canada  and  Travels  through  Thai  Vast  Country,  and  Louisi- 
ana, to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Undertaken  by  order  of  the  present  king 
of  France  (London,  1763). 

Chicago  Historical  Society.  Collections  (Chicago,  1882-1910),  Vols.  I-IX. 
Unlike  the  usual  series  of  collections  of  historical  societies,  the  contents 
of  each  of  these  volumes  pertain  in  most  cases  to  a  single  subject.  Those 
which  have  been  of  use  in  the  preparation  of  this  work  will  be  cited  under 
their  separate  titles. 

Chittenden,  Hiram  Martin.  The  American  Fur  Trade  of  the  Far  West. 
A  history  of  the  pioneer  trading  posts  and  early  fur  companies  of  the 
Missouri  Valley  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  of  the  overland  com- 
merce with  Santa  Fe  (New  York,  1902).  3  vols. 

The  standard  authority  for  the  subject  treated;  contains  a  chapter  on 
the  abolition  of  the  government  factory  system. 

Cooley,  Thomas  Mclntyre.     Michigan,  a  History  of  Governments  (Boston, 

1895)- 
Craig,  Oscar  J.     "Ouiatanon,"  in  Indiana  Historical  Society  Publications, 

Vol.  II,  No.  8. 

Davidson,  Alexander,  and  Bernard  Stuve.  A  Complete  History  of  Illinois, 
from  1673  to  1884  (Springfield,  111.,  1884). 


442  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Dawson,  Moses.  A  Historical  Narrative  of  the  Civil  and  Military  Services 
of  Major-general  William  H.  Harrison,  and  a  Vindication  of  His  Character 
and  Conduct  as  a  Statesman,  a  Citizen,  and  a  Soldier.  With  a  detail  of 
his  negotiations  and  wars  with  the  Indians  until  the  final  overthrow 
of  the  celebrated  chief  Tecumseh,  and  his  brother  the  Prophet  (Cin- 
cinnati, 1824). 

Although  frankly  partisan  this  is  a  source  of  prime  importance  for  the 
relations  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites  in  the  Northwest  during 
Harrison's  long  regime  as  governor  of  Indiana  Territory. 

Dilg,  Carl.    Papers  (MS). 

Dilg  was  a  Chicago  archaeologist  and  antiquarian,  full  of  industry  and 
zeal,  but  with  rather  erratic  methods  of  work  and  violently  partisan  in  his 
advocacy  of  his  theories.  After  his  death  his  papers  were  purchased  by 
the  Chicago  Historical  Society.  From  the  point  of  view  of  this  work  they 
contain  a  small  amount  of  useful  information,  difficult  to  extract  from  the 
mass  of  chaff  in  which  it  is  embedded. 

Dillon,  John  B.  A  History  of  Indiana  from  Its  Earliest  Exploration  by 
Europeans  to  the  Close  of  the  Territorial  Government  in  1816  ....  and 
a  General  View  of  the  Progress  of  Public  Affairs  in  Indiana  from  1816 
to  1856  (Indianapolis,  1859). 

An  excellent  state  history  by  a  careful  and  scholarly  worker,  whose 
efforts  to  preserve  the  early  history  of  his  state  were  but  little  appreciated 
by  the  generation  to  which  he  belonged. 

Drake,  Benjamin.  Life  of  Tecumseh,  and  His  Brother  the  Prophet;  with 
a  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Shawanoe  Indians  (Cincinnati,  1856). 

An  unpretentious  but  creditable  narrative,  based  to  a  considerable 
extent  on  source  material.  There  were  at  least  two  earlier  editions  of 
the  work  than  the  one  which  I  have  used. 

Draper,  Lyman  C.     Collection  (MS). 

Lyman  C.  Draper  was  an  indefatigable  collector  during  a  long  lifetime 
of  materials  pertaining  to  western  history.  Upon  his  death  his  papers 
became  the  property  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society,  of  which 
he  had  long  been  the  secretary.  The  documents  of  chief  importance  in 
the  preparation  of  the  present  work  are  the  Heald  Papers.  For  a  fuller 
account  of  the  Collection  see  Thwaites,  How  George  Rogers  Clark  Won  the 
Northwest,  and  Other  Essays  in  Western  History  (Chicago,  1903),  335  ff. 

Drennan,  Daniel  O.    Papers  (MS). 

Drennan  was  employed  by  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  to  search  in 
the  archives  of  the  War  Department  at  Washington  for  documents  pertain- 
ing to  Chicago  and  Fort  Dearborn.  The  papers  consist  of  attested  copies 
of  several  hundred  documents,  chiefly  military  orders  and  communications, 
covering  the  years  from  1803  to  1836. 

Dunn,  J.  P.,  Jr.    Indiana,  a  Redemption  from  Slavery  (Boston,  1893). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  443 

Edwards,  Ninian  W.    Papers  (MS). 

Edwards  was  the  first  and  only  territorial  governor  of  Illinois,  and 
later  served  as  governor  of  the  state.  His  papers,  which  comprise  four 
bound  volumes  of  letters  and  other  manuscripts,  were  presented  to  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society  by  his  son,  Ninian  Wirt  Edwards.  They  con- 
stitute an  indispensable  source  of  information  for  the  history  of  Illinois 
in  the  period  covered  by  them.  They  have  been  of  only  minor  assistance 
in  the  preparation  of  this  work,  however,  owing  to  the  fact  that  until 
practically  the  close  of  the  period  of  which  it  treats  Chicago  was  separated 
from  the  settled  portion  of  southern  Illinois  by  a  broad  expanse  of  wilder 
ness,  and  both  politically  and  commercially  was  much  more  closely  affiliated 
with  Michigan  Territory  and  Detroit.  Many  of  the  manuscripts  in  the 
collection  have  been  published  in  Edwards,  History  of  Illinois  ....  and 
Life  and  Times  of  Ninian  Edwards,  and  Washburne  (editor),  The  Edwards 
Papers. 

Edwards,  Ninian  W.  History  of  Illinois  from  1778  to  1833;  and  Life  and 
Times  of  Ninian  Edwards  (Springfield,  111.,  1870). 

Farrand,  Livingston.  Basis  of  American  History  1500-1  goo  (New  York, 
1904). 

This  constitutes  volume  II  of  The  American  Nation:  a  History  (Albert 
Bushnell  Hart,  editor). 

Fergus  Historical  Series. 

This  consists  of  thirty-five  pamphlets,  numbered  consecutively,  per- 
taining to  the  early  history  of  Chicago  and  Illinois.  They  were  issued  by 
the  Fergus  Printing  Company  of  Chicago.  Those  numbers  to  which 
reference  has  been  made  in  the  present  work  are  cited  under  their  separate 
titles. 

Flagler,  Major  D.  W.  A  History  of  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal  from  Its  Estab- 
lishment in  1863  to  December,  1876;  and  of  the  Island  of  Rock  Island, 
the  Site  of  the  Arsenal,  from  1804  to  1863  (Washington,  1877). 

The  early  pages  of  this  work  give  a  brief  account  of  the  island  of  Rock 
Island  in  the  period  beginning  with  1804. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  The  Complete  Works  of,  Including  His  Private  as  Well 
as  His  Official  Correspondence  ....  John  Bigelow,  editor  (New  York, 
1887-89).  10  vols. 

French,  B.  F.  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,  Embracing  Many  Rare 
and  Valuable  Documents  Relating  to  the  Natural,  Civil,  and  Political 
History  of  That  State  (New  York,  1846-53).  5  vols. 

Contains  translations  of  many  of  the  records  of  the  early  French 
explorers  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

Gale,  Edwin  O.  Reminiscences  of  Early  Chicago  and  Vicinity  (Chicago, 
1902). 

The  recollections  in  old  age  of  one  who  spent  practically  his  entire  life 
at  Chicago.  The  book  is  written  in  familiar  and  entertaining  style,  but  is 


444  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

quite  uncritical  and  abounds  in  the  faults  common  to  this  species  of  historical 
work. 

Gordon,  Eleanor  Lytle  Kinzie.    John  Kinzie,  the  "Father  of  Chicago";   a 

Sketch  (1912).     Pamphlet. 

A  fanciful  and  highly  laudatory  sketch  by  the  granddaughter  of  Kinzie, 
drawn  chiefly  from  her  mother's  book,  Wau  Bun.  Contains  the  latest 
restatement  by  a  member  of  the  family  of  the  Kinzie  tradition. 

Gordon,  Nelly  Kinzie  (editor).  The  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre,  Written  in 
1814  by  Lieutenant  Linai  T.  Helm,  One  of  the  Survivors.  With  letters 
and  narratives  of  contemporary  interest  (Chicago,  [1912]). 

This  volume  contains  the  documents  printed  in  Appendices  VI  and 
VII  of  the  present  work,  chaps,  xviii,  xix,  and  xxii  of  Kinzie's  Wau  Bun, 
and  a  reprint  of  the  author's  sketch  of  her  grandfather,  John  Kinzie,  noted 
in  the  reference  immediately  above.  The  text  of  Helm's  massacre  narra- 
tive, the  document  of  chief  importance  in  the  collection,  has  been  freely 
emended  without  giving  any  notice  to  the  reader  of  the  fact.  In  similar 
fashion  the  composition  of  the  chapters  from  Wau  Bun  has  been  liberally 
emended,  and  in  at  least  one  instance  an  important  interpolation  has  been 
made,  without  warning  to  the  reader. 

Grover,  Frank  R.  "Some  Indian  Landmarks  of  the  North  Shore"  (Chicago, 
n.d.).  Pamphlet. 

An  address  read  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  February  21, 
1905. 

.     "Father  Francois  Pinet  S.J.,  and  his  Mission  of  the  Guardian 

Angel  of  Chicago  (L'Ange  Gardien)  A.D.  1696-1699"  (Chicago,  1907). 

A  paper  read  before  a  joint  meeting  of  the  Chicago  and  Evanston 
Historical  Societies,  November  27,  1906.  The  author  is  uncritical  and  his 
works  should  be  used  with  caution.  In  the  present  work  he  contends 
that  "there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt"  that  Pinet's  Mission  stood  on  the 
site  of  the  present  Skokie  March  within  the  limits  of  the  village  of  Gross 
Point. 

[Hay,  Henry].    Journal  from  Detroit  to  the  Miami  River  (MS). 

This  manuscript  in  the  Detroit  Public  Library  is  the  journal  of  a 
Detroit  trader  who  spent  the  winter  of  1789-90  at  the  French  settlement 
near  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee.  It  gives  an  interesting  and  graphic 
picture  of  the  life  of  this  pro-British  settlement  during  the  winter.  The 
chief  importance  of  the  journal  to  the  present  work  consists  in  the  informa- 
tion it  gives  about  John  Kinzie,  whose  convivial  companion  throughout  the 
winter  the  journalist  became.  The  journal  does  not  contain  the  author's 
name;  I  have  accepted  tentatively  the  ascription  of  it  by  Mr.  Clarence  M. 
Burton  to  Henry  Hay. 

Head,  Wm.  R.     Papers  (MS). 

Head  was  a  Chicago  antiquarian  who  for  many  years  industriously 
collected  data  pertaining  to  the  early  history  of  Chicago  and  Illinois. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  445 

Most  of  his  papers  were  destroyed,  following  his  death  in  1910.  A  few 
of  them  are  in  the  possession  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  however, 
and  a  somewhat  larger  number  were  until  recently  retained  by  his  widow. 
For  an  estimate  of  their  character,  and  their  value  to  the  present  work  see 
Appendix  II. 

Heald,  Nathan,  Papers  (MS). 

These  papers,  of  prime  importance  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  story 
of  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  and  the  fortunes  of  the  Healds,  are  now 
widely  scattered.  Much  the  more  important,  of  those  still  in  existence 
are  in  the  Draper  Collection,  for  which  they  were  procured,  apparently, 
at  the  time  of  Lyman  C.  Draper's  interview  with  Darius  Heald  in  1868. 
Those  which  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  family  were  exposed  to  the 
vicissitudes  of  chance  and  the  weather  until  a  few  years  since,  when  an 
awakening  realization  of  their  historical  importance  led  to  a  division  of  such 
as  still  remained  among  the  various  representatives  of  the  family,  the 
grandchildren  of  Nathan  Heald,  by  whom  they  are  now  carefully  preserved. 
Such  as  could  be  assembled  were  collected  for  the  use  of  the  writer  in  pre- 
paring the  present  work  by  Mr.  Wright  Johnson  of  Rutherford,  New 
Jersey,  a  son-in-law  of  Darius  Heald.  There  are  a  few  Heald  papers,  also, 
among  the  Kingsbury  Papers  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 

Hebberd,  S.  S.    History  of  Wisconsin  under  the  Dominion  of  France  (Madi- 
son, 1890). 

Important  chiefly  for  its  treatment  of  the  long  wars  of  the  Fox  Indians 
with  the  French.  The  author  takes  issue  with  the  conclusions  of  Parkrnan 
in  certain  important  respects. 

Heitman,  Francis  B.    Historical  Register  and  Dictionary  of  the   United 

States  Army,  from  Its  Organization,  September  29,  1789,  to  March  2, 

1903  (Washington,  1903).     2  vols. 
Hennepin,  Father  Louis.    Nouvelle  dtcowoerte  d'un  tres  grand  pays  situe  dans 

VAmerique  entre  le  Noveau  Mexique  et  le  Mer  Glaciate  ....  (Utrecht, 

1697-98).     2  vols. 

Vol.  II  bears  the  title  "Noveau  voyage  d'un  pais  plus  grand  que  L' 
Europe  .  .  .  ." 

.  A  New  Discovery  of  a  Vast  Country  in  America.  Reprinted  from 

the  second  London  Edition  of  1698  ....  by  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites 
(Chicago,  1903).  2  vols. 

Reward,  Hugh.    Journal  (MS). 

This  is  the  journal  of  a  trader  who  made  a  trip  from  Michigan  by  way 
of  the  Chicago  Portage  to  lower  Illinois  in  1790.  The  original  manu- 
script is  owned  by  Mr.  Clarence  M.  Burton  of  Detroit.  There  is  a  ver- 
batim copy  of  it  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 

[Hoffman,  Charles  Fenno].    A  Winter  in  the  West.     By  a  New  Yorker 
(New  York,  1835).     2d  ed.,  2  vols. 

Contains  a  graphic  description  of  the  village  of  Chicago  at  the  time  of 
the  author's  visit  in  the  winter  of  1834. 


446  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Hubbard,  Gurdon  Saltonstall.    Autobiographical  Sketch  (MS). 

Hubbard  first  visited  Chicago  as  an  employee  of  the  American  Fur 
Company  in  1818.  With  the  development  of  the  modern  city  in  the  early 
thirties  he  became,  and  remained  for  half  a  century,  one  of  its  prominent 
citizens.  This  manuscript  deals  with  his  early  career  in  the  fur  trade. 
It  forms  the  basis  of  the  published  Life  of  Hubbard. 

.  Incidents  and  Events  in  the  Life  of ;  Collected  from  Personal  Narra- 
tives and  Other  Sources  and  Arranged  by  His  Nephew,  Henry  E.  Hamil- 
ton ([Chicago,]  1888). 

This  work,  while  written  in  the  first  person  and  largely  drawn  from  the 
Hubbard  manuscript  cited  above,  is  not  strictly  an  autobiography,  a  fact 
sufficiently  indicated  by  the  title.  Taken  as  a  whole  it  constitutes  a 
valuable  and  graphic  picture  of  the  methods  of  conducting  the  fur  trade 
in  the  halcyon  days  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  and  of  the  manner  of 
life  incident  thereto.  It  is  of  chief  value  to  the  present  work  for  its  account 
of  the  passing  of  the  Chicago  Portage.  A  new  edition  of  the  work  was  issued 
in  Chicago  in  1911  with  the  title  The  Autobiography  of  Gurdon  Saltonstall 
Hubbard:  Pa-pa-ma-ta-be,  "The  Swift  Walker." 

Hulburt,  Archer  Butler.    Portage  Paths:  the  Keys  of  the  Continent  (Cleve- 
land, 1903). 
This  work  constitutes  Vol.  VII  of  the  series  "Historic  Highways  of 

America." 

Hull,  William.  Memoirs  of  the  Campaign  of  the  Northwestern  Army  of  the 
United  States,  A.D.  1812.  In  a  series  of  letters  addressed  to  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States.  With  an  appendix  containing  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  Revolutionary  services  of  the  author  (Boston,  1824). 

This  work  contains  Hull's  own  exculpation  to  his  countrymen  for  his 
course  in  the  campaign  of  1812. 

Hurlbut,  Henry  H.  Chicago  Antiquities.  Comprising  original  items  and 
relations,  letters,  extracts,  and  notes  pertaining  to  early  Chicago  (Chi- 
cago, 1881). 

A  useful  collection  of  source  material,  arranged  in  discursive  fashion, 
and  of  very  uneven  value. 

.    Father  Marquette  at  Mackinaw  and  Chicago. 

Hutchins,  Thomas.  A  Topographical  Description  of  Virginia,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland,  and  North  Carolina.  Reprinted  from  the  original 
edition  of  1778;  edited  by  Frederick  Charles  Hicks  (Cleveland,  1904). 

Hyde,  James  Nevins.  Early  Medical  Chicago.  An  historical  sketch  of  the 
first  practitioners  of  medicine,  with  the  present  faculties,  and  graduates 
since  their  organization,  of  the  medical  colleges  of  Chicago  (Chicago, 
1879).  Pamphlet. 

This  is  No.  n  in  the  Fergus  historical  series.  Of  value  for  its  account 
of  the  cholera  outbreak  and  the  methods  of  treatment  employed  at  Chicago 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  447 

in  1832.    Contains  the  only  defense  I  have  seen  of  Surgeon  Van  Voorhis 
against  the  charge  of  cowardice  made  in  Kinzie's  Wau  Bun. 

Illinois  State  Historical  Library  Collections  (Springfield,  1903-11). 

Illinois  State  Historical  Society.     Transactions  (Springfield,  1901-1911). 
Nos.  1-15. 

Indian  Office.    Letter  books  and  other  documents  (MS). 

These  comprise  a  great  mass  of  manuscripts  and  records  pertaining  to 
the  relations  between  the  United  States  and  the  various  Indian  tribes, 
preserved  in  the  Pension  Building  at  Washington.  For  the  most  part  they 
have  been  used  but  little,  if  at  all,  by  historical  workers.  Those  which 
have  proved  of  chief  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  the  present  work  are 
the  letter  books  and  other  records  of  the  Department  of  Indian  Trade. 
Among  these  are  the  daybook  kept  by  Matthew  Irwin  as  factor  at  Chicago, 
his  petty  ledger,  the  Chicago  order  book,  and  other  volumes  relating  to  the 
operations  of  the  Chicago  factory  and  of  the  government  trading-house 
system  in  general. 

Indiana  Historical  Society.    Publications  (Indianapolis,  1895-1905),  Vols. 
i-in. 

James,  James  Alton.     "Indian  Diplomacy  and  Opening  of  the  Revolution 

in  the  West,"  in  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  1909, 

125  ff. 
.     "  Some  Problems  of  the  Northwest  in  1 7 79, "  in  Essays  in  A merican 

History,  Dedicated  to  Frederick  Jackson  Turner,  Guy  Stanton  Ford, 

editor  (New  York,  1910). 

.     "  The  Significance  of  the  Attack  on  St.  Louis,  1 780,"  in  Mississippi 

Valley  Historical  Association  Proceedings  for  1908-9,  199  ff. 

"George  Rogers  Clark  and  Detroit  1780-1781,"  in  Mississippi 


Valley  Historical  Association  Proceedings  for  1910-11,  291  ff. 

Jesuit  Relations  and  Allied  Documents;  Travels  and  Explorations  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  in  New  France  1610-1791,  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites, 
editor  (Cleveland,  1896-1901).  73  vols. 

Valuable  for  the  movements  of  the  early  missionary  explorers  and  their 
work  among  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  in  the  early  French  period. 

Johnston,  William.  "Notes  of  a  Tour  from  Fort  Wayne  to  Chicago,  1809." 
MS  in  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 

A  detailed  description  of  the  route  between  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago, 
together  with  brief  observations  on  Fort  Dearborn  and  the  Chicago  Portage. 
The  MS  is  a  copy,  approximately  contemporary,  of  the  original. 

Journals  of  the  Continental  Congress  1774-1789.  Edited  from  the  original 
records  in  the  Library  of  Congress  by  Worthington  Chauncey  Ford, 
Chief,  Division  of  Manuscripts  (Washington,  1904-10).  18  vols. 


448  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Keating,  William  H.  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  to  the  Source  of  St.  Peter's 
River,  Lake  Winnipeek,  Lake  of  the  Woods,  etc,  etc.  Performed  in  the 
year  1823,  by  order  of  the  Hon.  John  C.  Calhoun,  Secretary  of  War, 
under  the  command  of  Stephen  H.  Long,  Major,  U.S.  T.E.  (Phila- 
delphia, 1824).  2  vols. 

The  explorers  passed  through  Chicago  and  the  historian  of  the  expedi- 
tion has  left  an  unusually  doleful  description  of  the  place  and  of  its  prospects. 

Kingsbury,  Jacob.     Papers  (MS). 

Kingsbury  was  an  officer  in  the  army  in  command  of  Detroit  and  other 
northwestern  posts  at  various  times  from  1804  to  1812,  and  the  officer 
first  selected  by  the  government  to  lead  the  northwestern  army  in  the 
campaign  of  1812.  His  papers,  hi  the  possession  of  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  consist  of  letter  books,  original  letters,  and  other  documents,  and 
shed  much  light  upon  conditions  hi  the  Northwest,  particularly  in  the  army, 
in  this  period.  The  Library  of  Congress  possesses  three  bound  volumes  of 
Kingsbury's  correspondence,  but  their  contents  are  of  comparatively  slight 
importance  for  the  present  work. 

Kinzie,  John,  Genealogy  of  the  Descendants  of  (MS). 

This  is  a  typewritten  manuscript  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society 
library,  compiled  by  Mrs.  Gordon,  the  granddaughter  of  Kinzie.  It  deals 
only  with  the  descendants  of  the  trader's  second,  or  legitimate,  family. 

.    Family  Genealogy  (MS). 

This  is  a  portion  of  a  lengthy  typewritten  genealogical  record  of  the 
Kinzie,  Lytle,  and  other  families  of  early  Detroit  owned  by  Clarence  M. 
Burton  of  Detroit.  It  was  compiled  by  an  advocate  of  the  claims  to  legiti- 
macy of  the  offspring  of  Kinzie's  first  family,  and  later  submitted  to  the 
criticism  of  Mrs.  Gordon,  who  believes  that  her  grandfather's  first  family 
was  an  illegitimate  one. 

[Kinzie,  Mrs.  John  H.]  Narrative  of  the  Massacre  at  Chicago,  August  15, 
1812,  and  of  Some  Preceding  Events  (Chicago,  1844).  Pamphlet. 

Aside  from  some  scattered  source  material,  this  is  the  first  printed 
account  of  the  massacre,  and  it  constitutes  the  basis  of  almost  all  the  later 
accounts  that  have  been  written  to  the  present  time.  The  author  was  a 
daughter-in-law  of  John  Kinzie,  and  her  information  was  obtained  chiefly 
from  his  wife  and  his  step-daughter,  the  wife  of  Lieutenant  Helm.  The 
narrative  is  fanciful  and  unreliable,  yet  because  of  the  use  made  of  it  by 
later  writers  a  knowledge  of  it  is  now  necessary  to  any  understanding  of 
the  literature  pertaining  to  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre. 

— .  Wau  Bun,  the  "Early  Day"  of  the  Northwest.  New  edition,  with 
an  introduction  by  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites  (Chicago,  the  Caxton 
Club,  1901). 

The  first  edition  of  this  work  appeared  in  1856.  The  author  incorpo- 
rated in  it  her  earlier  narrative  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre.  For  the 
rest  the  work  deals  with  her  experience  in  the  West  from  1830  to  1834,  and 
with  the  early  history  of  her  husband's  family.  Although  from  some  points 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  449 

of  view  the  work  possesses  historical  value,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  present 
work  the  judgment  of  a  recent  correspondent  of  the  writer  that  it "  is  interest- 
ing as  fiction  very  slightly  founded  on  fact,  but  worthless  as  a  work  of 
history"  is  scarcely  too  severe. 

Kirkland,  Joseph.  "The  Chicago  Massacre  in  1812,"  in  Magazine  of 
American  History,  XXVIII,  in  ff. 

Kirkland  interviewed  Darius  Heald  in  1892,  and  this  is  his  report  of 
the  latter's  narrative  of  the  Chicago  massacre  as  told  by  his  mother,  Mrs. 
Rebekah  Heald. 

.     The  Chicago  Massacre  of  1812.    A  historical  and  biographical 

narrative  of  Fort  Dearborn  (now  Chicago).    How  the  fort  and  city 
were  begun,  and  who  were  the  beginners  (Chicago,  1893). 

This  little  work  was  inspired  by  the  author's  rediscovery  of  the  Darius 
Heald-Rebekah  Heald  narrative  of  the  massacre.  In  it  he  strives  to  recon- 
cile this  narrative  with  that  of  Mrs.  Kinzie  in  Wau  Bun. 

Lahontan,  Baron  de.  New  Voyages  to  North  America,  Reuben  Gold 
Thwaites,  editor  (Chicago,  1905).  2  vols. 

Latrobe,  Charles  Joseph.  The  Rambler  in  North  America,  1832-1833 
(London,  1835).  2  vols. 

One  of  the  best  of  the  series  of  descriptions  by  foreigners  of  their  travels 
in  the  United  States  of  which  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
so  prolific.  Contains  a  graphic  description  of  the  scenes  attending  the  nego- 
tiation of  the  Chicago  Treaty  of  1833,  of  which  the  author  was  an  eye- 
witness. 

Legler,  Henry  E.     '"'Chevalier  Henry  de  Tonty,"  in  Parkman  Club  Publi- 
cations, No.  3.     (Milwaukee,  1896). 
A  sympathetic  and  scholarly  summary  of  Tonty's  career  in  America. 

McAfee,  Robert  B.  History  of  the  Late  War  in  the  Western  Country.  Com- 
prising a  full  account  of  all  the  transactions  in  that  quarter,  from  the 
commencement  of  hostilities  at  Tippecanoe,  to  the  termination  of  the 
contest  at  New  Orleans  on  the  return  of  peace  (Lexington,  Ky.,  1816). 

One  of  the  best  of  the  contemporary  narratives  of  the  War  of  1812. 
Contains  an  account  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre  drawn  from  Sergeant 
Griffith,  a  participant. 

McCoy,  Isaac.  History  of  Baptist  Indian  Missions.  Embracing  remarks 
on  the  former  and  present  condition  of  the  aboriginal  Indian  tribes; 
their  settlement  within  the  Indian  Territory,  and  their  future  pros- 
pects (Washington,  1840). 

An  account  of  the  courageous  and  self-sacrificing  labors  of  the  founder 
of  Carey's  Mission  among  the  St.  Joseph  Pottawatomies.  Sheds  some 
light  on  the  Chicago  Treaty  of  1821. 


450  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

McCulloch,  David.  Early  Days  of  Peoria  and  Chicago.  An  address  read 
before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  at  a  quarterly  meeting  held 
January  19,  1904  ([Chicago],  n.d.).  Pamphlet. 

.     "Old  Peoria,"  in  Illinois  State  Historical  Society  Transactions, 

1901. 

McLaughlin,  Andrew  C.     "The  Western  Posts  and  the  British  Debts," 
in  American  Historical  Association,  Annual  Report  for  1894,  413-44 
(Washington,  1895). 
The  standard  study  of  this  subject. 

McMaster,  John  Bach.  A  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States  from 
the  Revolution  to  the  Civil  War  (New  York,  1891-1906).  Vols.  I-VI. 

Map:  Bellin,  M.    Carte  de  I'Amerique  Septentrionale  depuis  le  28  degre  de 
latitude  jusqu'au  72.     Par  M.  Bellin,  Ingenieur  de  la  marine  et  du 
depost  des  plans,  ....  (1755). 
Shows  an  abandoned  French  post  at  Chicago. 

Map:    Homann,  Johannes  Baptista.     Totius  Americae  Septentrionalis  et 
Meridionalis,    novissima    representatio    quam    ex    singulis    recentium 
geographorum  tabulis  collecta  luci  publicae  accommodavit  (Nuremberg, 
[1700?]). 
Shows  La  Salle's  Fort  Miami  at  Chicago. 

Map:  Moll,  Herman.  Atlas  Minor:  or  a  New  and  Curious  Set  of  Sixty- 
two  Maps,  in  Which  Are  Shown  All  the  Empires,  Kingdoms,  Countries, 
States  in  All  the  Known  Parts  of  the  Earth  ....  (London,  n.d.). 

Map:  Popple,  Henry.  A  Map  of  the  British  Empire  in  America  with  the 
French  and  Spanish  Settlements  Adjacent  Thereto  (London,  1733). 

Map:  Rocque,  John.  A  General  Map  of  North  America:  in  Which  Is 
Expressed  the  Several  New  Roads,  Forts,  Engagements,  &*c.  Taken  from 
Actual  Surveys  and  Observations  Made  in  the  Army  Employ' d  There, 
from  the  Year  1754  to  1761;  drawn  by  the  late  John  Rocque,  topog- 
rapher to  his  Majesty. 

Margry,  Pierre.  Decouvertes  et  etablissements  des  Francois  dans  I'ouest  et 
dans  le  sud  de  I'Amerique  Septentrionale  (1614-1754);  memoires  et 
documents  orignaux  (Paris,  1876-1886).  6  vols. 

The  early  volumes  contain  a  mass  of  source  material  pertaining  to  the 
work  of  La  Salle  in  North  America. 

Martin.  Report  of  Cases  Argued  and  Determined  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana,  comprising  Louisiana  Term  Reports  IV  and  V 
(New  Orleans,  1852). 

Contains  the  decision  of  the  court  in  the  case  of  Kinzie  and  Forsyth 
vs.  Jeffrey  Nash. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  451 

Mason,  Edward  G.    Chapters  from  Illinois  History  (Chicago,  1901). 

Contains  several  charmingly  written  chapters  on  Illinois  in  the  early 
French  period,  based  to  a  large  extent  on  a  study  of  the  original  sources; 
a  study  of  the  Spanish  expedition  against  St.  Joseph  in  1781,  which  has 
until  recently  been  regarded  as  the  standard  treatment  of  the  subject; 
and  the  address  of  Mason  on  the  occasion  of  the  unveiling  of  the  Fort 
Dearborn  massacre  monument.  The  historical  value  of  the  latter  study 
is  much  inferior  to  that  of  the  preceding  ones. 

— .     "Early  Visitors  to  Chicago,"  in  New  England  Magazine  (Boston), 
new  ser.,  VI,  188  ff. 

Matson,  N.    French  and  Indians  of  Illinois  River.     2d  ed.  (Princeton,  111., 
1874). 

.    Memories  of  Shaubena  with  Incidents  Relating  to  Indian  Wars 

and  the  Early  Settlement  of  the  West  (Chicago,  1890). 

Pioneers  of  Illinois.     Containing  a  series  of  sketches  relating  to 


events  that  occurred  previous  to  1813,  ....  drawn  from  history, 
tradition,  and  personal  reminiscences  (Chicago,  1882). 

The  author  of  these  three  works  was  an  Illinois  pioneer  possessed  of 
more  zeal  for  preserving  the  history  of  early  Illinois  than  he  was  of  critical 
insight.  Despite  the  advantage  he  enjoyed  of  personal  acquaintance  and 
contact  with  many  of  the  characters  treated  in  his  works,  but  little  con- 
fidence can  be  had  in  the  accuracy  of  his  statements,  while  it  is  often  obvious 
that  they  have  no  tangible  basis  in  fact. 

Michigan  Pioneer  and  Historical  Society.  Collections  and  Researches 
(Lansing,  1887-1910).  Vols.  I-XXXVIII. 

This  series  contains  a  vast  number  of  documents,  indifferently  edited 
for  the  most  part,  bearing  on  the  history  of  the  Northwest. 

Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Association  Proceedings  (Cedar  Rapids,  1909- 
12).  Vols.  I-IV. 

The  volumes  in  this  new  series  are  ably  edited  and  their  contents, 
relating  to  the  history  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  region,  are  in  general  of  a 
high  order  of  excellence. 

Missouri  Historical  Review  (Columbia,  1907-12).    Vols.  I- VI. 

Moses,  John.  Illinois,  Historical  and  Statistical.  Comprising  the  essential 
facts  of  its  planting  and  growth  as  a  province,  county,  territory,  and 
state  ....  (Chicago,  1889).  2  vols. 

Neville,  Ella  Hoes,  Sarah  Greene  Martin,  and  Deborah  Beaumont  Martin. 
Historic  Green  Bay,  1634-1840  (Green  Bay,  Wis.,  1893). 

N  ties'  Register  ....  (Baltimore),  1811-49.     76  vols. 

O'Callaghan,  E.  B.  (editor).  Documents  Relative  to  the  Colonial  History 
of  the  State  of  New  York  (Albany,  1853-58).  10  vols. 


452  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Parkman,  Francis.     A  Half-Century  of  Conflict  (Boston,  1897).     2  vols. 

This  covers  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  includes  an 
extensive  account  of  the  Fox  wars.  The  series  to  which  the  work  belongs 
has  long  ranked  as  a  classic  in  American  historical  literature,  yet  the  account 
of  the  Fox  wars  is  now  obsolete  in  many  respects,  and  requires  rewriting 
in  the  light  of  the  mass  of  documents  brought  to  light  since  Parkman's 
work  was  done. 


.    La  Salk  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great  West  (Boston,   1897). 

2  vols. 

This  work  still  remains  the  standard  authority  on  the  subject  treated. 

.     The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac  (Boston,  1897). 

Some  of  the  conclusions  expressed  in  this  work  have  been  challenged 
by  Hebberd  Wisconsin  under  the  Dominion  of  France),  and  other  writers. 

Peyster,  Arent  Schuyler  de.    Miscellanies  by  an  Officer  (Dumfries,  1813). 

A  reprint  of  the  original  edition  of  this  work  has  been  issued  under 
the  editorship  of  J.  Watts  de  Peyster  (New  York,  1888). 

Polk,  James  K.  The  Diary  of  James  K.  Polk  during  His  Presidency,  1845 
to  1849  ,  .  .  .  Edited  and  Annotated  by  Milo  Milton  Quaife  .... 
(Chicago,  1910).  4  vols. 

This  constitutes  Vols.  VI  to  IX  inclusive  of  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society  Collections, 

Porter,  Rev.  Jeremiah.     The  Earliest  Religious  History  of  Chicago.    An 
address  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  in  1859  (Chicago,  1881). 
Pamphlet. 
This  work  is  No.  14  in  the  Fergus  Historical  Series. 

Porter,  Mary  H.    Eliza  Chappell  Porter.    A  Memoir  (Chicago,  1892). 

Quaife,  Milo  Milton.  "Some  Notes  on  the  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre," 
in  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Association  Proceedings  for  1910-11, 
112  ff. 

A  critical  estimate  of  the  printed  accounts  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  massa- 
cre, more  particularly  of  Mrs.  Kinzie's  Wau  Bun. 

Reynolds,  John.  The  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois.  Containing  the  dis- 
covery in  1673,  and  the  history  of  the  country  to  the  year  1818, 
when  the  state  government  was  organized,  ad  ed.,  with  portraits, 
notes,  and  a  complete  index  (Chicago,  1887). 

Roosevelt,  Theodore.  The  Winning  of  the  West  (New  York,  1889-96). 
4  vols. 

Vols.  Ill  and  IV  of  this  work  contain  a  good  account  of  the  Indian 
troubles  in  the  Northwest  and  the  campaigns  of  Harmar,  St.  Clair,  and 
Wayne  in  the  opening  years  of  the  new  national  government. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  453 

Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.  Narrative  Journal  of  Travels  from  Detroit  North- 
west through  the  Great  Chain  of  American  Lakes  to  the  Sources  of  the 
Mississippi  River  in  the  Year  1820  (Albany,  1821). 

This  volume  has  a  second  title-page  with  a  somewhat  longer  title. 
The  author  was  an  observer  of  more  than  usual  intelligence  and  zeal  who 
spent  a  great  many  years  in  the  Northwest  as  Indian  agent  at  Sault  Ste. 
Marie  and  Mackinac.  The  expedition  described  in  this  volume  was  sent 
out  by  the  government  under  the  leadership  of  Lewis  Cass.  The  Journal 
contains  a  description  of  Chicago  in  1820  and  an  account  of  the  massacre 
based  in  part  on  information  obtained  from  John  Kinzie. 

.    Summary  Narrative  of  an  Exploratory  Expedition  to  the  Sources 

of  the  Mississippi  River  in  1820:  Resumed  and  Completed  by  the  Discovery 
of  Its  Origin  in  Itasca  Lake,  in  1832  ....  (Philadelphia,  1855). 

.  Travels  in  the  Central  Portions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley:  Com- 
prising Observations  on  Its  Mineral  Geography,  Internal  Resources,  and 
Aboriginal  Population  (New  York,  1825). 

The  "travels"  which  furnished  the  material  for  this  work  comprised 
a  circuit  by  Schoolcraft  from  Detroit  by  way  of  the  Maumee  and  Wabash 
rivers  to  the  Ohio,  across  southern  Illinois,  up  the  valley  of  the  Illinois 
River  to  Chicago,  and  thence  around  the  lakes  to  Detroit.  Most  of  the 
journey  was  made  in  a  large  canoe,  the  remainder  on  horseback.  The 
occasion  for  making  it  was  the  Chicago  Treaty  of  1821  to  which  Schoolcraft 
came  with  Lewis  Cass  in  the  capacity  of  secretary.  The  work  contains, 
therefore,  the  most  valuable  account  in  existence  of  the  negotiations 
attending  that  treaty. 

.    Personal  Memoirs  of  a  Residence  of  Thirty  Years  with  the  Indian 

Tribes  on  the  American  Frontier,  with  Brief  Notices  of  Passing  Events, 
Facts,  and  Opinions,  A.D.  1812  to  A.D.  1842  (Philadelphia,  1851). 

Shirreff,  Patrick.  A  Tour  through  North  America;  Together  with  a  Com- 
prehensive View  of  the  Canadas  and  United  States.  As  adapted  for 
agricultural  emigration  (Edinburgh,  1835). 

The  author  of  this  work  was  a  shrewd  farmer,  and  his  observations 
upon  the  people  among  whom  he  came  are  characterized  by  a  degree  of 
sanity  and  fairness  all  too  rare,  unhappily,  in  the  works  of  English  travelers 
in  the  United  States  in  this  period.  Shirreff  came  to  Chicago  in  1833  in 
the  same  stage  that  brought  Latrobe.  His  observations  on  the  place,  and 
on  the  proceedings  attending  the  Indian  treaty  which  was  in  process  of 
negotiation  may  profitably  be  compared  with  those  of  Latrobe. 

[Scott,  Winfield].  Memoirs  of  Lieutenant-General  Scott,  LL.D.  Written 
by  himself  (New  York,  1864).  2  vols. 

Valuable  for  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1832,  and  for  Scott's  share  in 
the  Black  Hawk  War. 


454  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Shea,  John  Gilmary.     "  Chicago  from  1673  to  1725,"  in  Historical  Magazine 
(New  York,  April,  1861). 
A  brief  summary,  now  of  little  importance. 

.     (editor).    History  and  General  Description  of  New  France.    By 

the  Rev.  P.  F.  X.  de  Charlevoix,  S.  J.     Translated,  with  notes  by 
John  Gilmary  Shea  (New  York,  1866-1872). 

A  reprint  of  this  work  has  been  issued  (New  York,  1900),  edited  by 
Noah  F.  Morrison. 


The  Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days  ....  1521-1763  (New 


York,  i 

.    History  of  the  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the 

United  States,  1520-1854  (New  York,  1857). 

.    Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi,  by  Cavalier,  St. 

Cosme,  Le  Seur,  Gravier,  and  Guignas  (Albany,  1861). 

Contains  an  English  translation,  abounding  in  numerous  errors,  of 
St.  Cosme's  letter  describing  the  expedition  of  the  party  of  Seminary 
priests  to  which  he  belonged  to  the  lower  Mississippi  country  in  1698- 
1699.  Valuable  for  its  account  of  Chicago  and  the  Chicago  Portage. 
The  original  manuscript  is  in  the  archives  of  Laval  University  at  Montreal. 
There  is  an  attested  copy  of  the  manuscript  in  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society  library. 

Simmons,  N.  Heroes  and  Heroines  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre.  A 
Romantic  and  Tragic  History  of  Corporal  John  Simmons  and  His 
Heroic  Wife  (Lawrence,  Kansas,  1896). 

A  slight  work  with  many  faults.  It  is,  however,  practically  the  only 
source  of  information  concerning  the  captivity  of  Mrs.  Simmons  and  her 
infant  daughter. 

Smith,  William  Henry  (editor).  The  St.  Clair  Papers.  The  life  and  public 
services  of  Arthur  St.  Clair  ....  with  his  correspondence  and  other 
papers  (Cincinnati,  1881). 

Smith,  WT.  L.  G.     The  Life  and  Times  of  Lewis  Cass  (New  York,  1856). 

Smith,  William  R.  The  History  of  Wisconsin.  In  three  parts,  historical, 
documentary,  descriptive  (Madison,  1854). 

Smith,  Dr.  William.  Letter  of,  to  James  May,  dated  Fort  Dearborn, 
December  9,  1803. 

Smith  was  the  first  surgeon  at  Fort  Dearborn.  This  letter  is  the 
earliest  contemporary  document  from  Fort  Dearborn  that  I  have  knowl- 
edge of.  Contains  some  information  about  the  founding  of  the  fort  not 
to  be  found  elsewhere.  The  letter  is  in  the  Detroit  Public  Library. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  455 

Stevens,  Frank  E.  The  Black  Hawk  War,  Including  a  Review  of  Black 
Hawk's  Life  (Chicago,  1903). 

By  far  the  most  extensive  and  valuable  account  of  the  war.  The 
author's  sympathies  are  too  strongly  enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  whites, 
however,  to  entitle  it  to  be  ranked  as  an  impartial  history.  The  work  is 
profusely  illustrated. 

Steward,  John  F.     Lost  Maramech  and  Earliest  Chicago  (Chicago,  1903). 

Stiles,  Henry  Reed  (editor).  JouteVs  Journal  of  La  Salle's  Last  Voyage 
1684-1687  ....  New  edition  with  historical  and  biographical  intro- 
duction, annotations,  and  index  (Albany,  1906). 

This  is  a  reprint  of  the  English  edition  of  JoutePs  Journal  published  in 
1714.  It  is  an  incomplete  and  garbled  translation  of  the  original,  which 
is  printed  in  Margry,  Vol.  III. 

Stoddard,  Major  Amos.  Sketches,  Historical  and  Descriptive,  of  Louisiana 
(Philadelphia,  1812). 

The  author  was  sent  by  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  take 
possession  of  Louisiana  in  1803,  and  he  became  the  first  territorial  governor. 

Swearingen,  James  Strode.  Papers  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society 
library  (MS). 

These  consist  of  three  documents,  copies,  apparently,  of  the  originals, 
which  were  loaned  for  this  purpose  by  Lyman  C.  Draper.  They  comprise 
an  interview  with  Swearingen  by  an  agent  of  Draper  in  1865;  a  letter  of 
Swearingen's  written  at  that  time,  concerning  his  share  in  bringing  the 
troops  from  Detroit  to  Fort  Dearborn  in  1803;  and  a  detailed  account  of 
his  subsequent  career.  For  a  fuller  account  of  these  papers  see  Quaife, 
"That  First  Wilderness  March  to  Chicago,"  in  Chicago  Record-Herald, 
August  n,  1912.  Their  existence  has  been  unknown  until  recently,  and 
no  use  has  hitherto  been  made  of  them  by  students. 

Tanner,  John.  A  Narrative  of  the  Captivity  and  Adventures  of  John  Tanner 
....  during  Thirty  Years  Residence  among  the  Indians  of  the  Interior 
of  North  America.  Prepared  for  the  press  by  Edwin  James,  M.D. 
(New  York,  1830). 

Tanner  journeyed  from  Mackinac  to  St.  Louis  in  1820  by  way  of  the 
Chicago  Portage  and  Illinois  River.  The  book  contains  a  valuable  account 
of  the  crossing  of  the  portage  in  the  dry  season  of  the  year. 

Teggart,  Frederick  J.  "The  Capture  of  Saint  Joseph,  Michigan,  by  the 
Spaniards  in  1781,"  in  Missouri  Historical  Review  (Columbia,  1911), 
V,  214-28. 

This  is  the  third  and  most  recent  critical  study,  that  has  been  made 
of  this  subject.  It  is  based  in  part  on  hitherto  unused  documents.  The 
author  dissents  rather  violently  from  the  conclusions  of  Professor  Alvord, 
and  tends  in  the  main  to  approve  the  earlier  study  of  Edward  G.  Mason. 


456  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Thwaites,  Reuben  Gold.  How  George  Rogers  Clark  Won  the  Northwest, 
and  Other  Essays  in  Western  History  (Chicago,  1903). 

Among  the  "other  essays"  is  an  account  of  the  Draper  Collection  in 
the  possession  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society. 

Treaties  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Several  Indian  Tribes 
from  1778  to  1837  (Washington,  1837). 

The  use  of  the  various  collections  of  Indian  treaties  is  attended  with 
some  perplexity.  Some  of  the  treaties  made  can  be  found  only  in  this  one; 
some  others,  printed  elsewhere,  are  without  one  or  more  of  the  schedules 
and  special  provisions  which  were  ordinarily  an  accompaniment  of  Indian 
treaties. 

Turner,  Frederick  J.  "The  Character  and  Influence  of  the  Fur  Trade  in 
Wisconsin,"  in  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society  Proceedings  for  1889 
(Madison,  1889),  52  ff. 

This  was  an  address  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Society.  It  was  afterward  expanded  by  the  author  into  the  work  cited 
immediately  below. 

.  "The  Character  and  Influence  of  the  Indian  Trade  in  Wisconsin," 

in  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  Historical  and  Political  Science, 
IX,  543-615  (Baltimore,  1891). 

U.S.  Congress,  Debates  and  Proceedings  in.  Annals  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  ....  (Washington,  1834-56).  42  vols. 

This  collection  covers  the  period  from  1789  to  1824;  it  was  continued  in 
the  Register  of  Debates  in  Congress  (1825-37).  r4  vols. 

United  States  of  America  vs.  the  Economy  Light  and  Power  Company  (Chicago, 
1912).  3  vols. 

The  evidence  in  this  case,  which  involves  the  question  of  the  physical 
character  and  the  historical  use  of  the  Des  Plaines  River,  constitutes  one 
of  the  most  exhaustive  investigations  ever  made,  probably,  of  a  compara- 
tively obscure  historical  question.  The  original  testimony,  of  which  the 
printed  record  is  only  an  abstract,  constitutes  a  vast  storehouse  of  informa- 
tion and  expert  critical  opinion  concerning  the  Chicago  area,  given  under 
oath  and  subject  to  cross-examination. 

U.S.  Public  Statutes  at  Large.     Vol.  VII  (Boston,  1853)  bears  the  title, 

Treaties  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Indian  Tribes 

(Richard  Peters,  Esq.,  ed.). 
Van  Cleve,  Charlotte  Ouisconsin.     Three  Score  Years  and  Ten.     Life  Long 

Memoirs  of  Fort  Snelling,   Minnesota,  and  Other  Parts  of  the  West 

(Minneapolis,  1888). 

This  volume  contains  the  reminiscences,  charmingly  written,  of  the 
author's  life,  first  as  daughter  and  later  as  wife  of  an  army  officer,  at  Fort 
Snelling,  Fort  Winnebago,  and  other  posts.  Some  of  the  persons  whose 
characters  are  sketched  were  stationed  at  Fort  Dearborn,  either  before  or 
after  the  author's  acquaintance  with  them. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  457 

Van  Voorhis,  Elias  W.  Notes  on  the  Ancestry  of  Major  Wm.  Roe  Van 
Voorhis,  of  Fishkill,  Duchess  County,  New  York  (privately  printed, 
1881). 

Varnum,  Jacob.    Journal  (MS). 

Varnum  was  factor  at  Chicago  from  1816  to  1822.  This  document  is 
an  account  of  his  life  to  1822,  cast  in  the  form  of  a  journal.  It  was  made 
up  in  1865  from  papers  and  other  data  in  the  writer's  possession.  The 
copy  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library,  a  typewritten  manuscript, 
was  furnished  by  John  Marshall  Varnum,  author  of  The  Varnums  of  Dracutt. 

Varnum,  John  Marshall.  The  Varnums  of  Dracutt  (in  Massachusetts), 
Boston,  1907). 

Virginia  State  Papers.  Calendar  of  Virginia  state  papers  and  other  manu- 
scripts ....  preserved  in  the  capitol  at  Richmond  (Richmond,  1875- 
85).  Vols.  I-V. 

Volney,  C.  F.  A  View  of  the  Soil  and  Climate  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
With  supplementary  remarks  upon  Florida;  on  the  French  colonies  on 
the  Mississippi  and  Ohio,  and  in  Canada;  and  on  the  aboriginal  tribes 
of  America.  Translated,  with  occasional  remarks,  by  C.  B.  Brown 
(Philadelphia,  1804). 

Contains  an  account  of  an  extended  interview,  at  Philadelphia  in  1798, 
with  Little  Turtle  and  Captain  William  Wells. 

Vose,  George  L.  A  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Works  of  George  W.  Whistler, 
Civil  Engineer  (Boston,  1887). 

Walker,  Charles  I.  The  Northwest  during  the  Revolution  (Madison,  1871). 
Pamphlet. 

This  was  delivered  as  the  annual  address  before  the  Wisconsin  State 
Historical  Society,  January  31,  1871. 

Washburne,  E.B.  (editor).  The  Edwards  Papers.  Being  a  portion  of  the 
collection  of  the  letters,  papers,  and  manuscripts  of  Ninian  Edwards, 
....  presented  to  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  October  i6th,  1883, 
by  his  son,  Ninian  Wirt  Edwards  (Chicago,  1884). 

This  work  constitutes  Vol.  Ill  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  Collec- 
tions. 

Webb,  James  Watson,  letter  to  John  Wentworth,  October  31,  1882  (MS). 

This  letter,  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library,  contains  the 
narration  in  old  age  of  the  writer's  recollections  of  life  at  Fort  Dearborn, 
sixty  years  before. 

Weld,  Isaac  Jr.     Travels  through  the  States  of  North  America,  and  the  Prov- 
inces of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  during  the  Years  1795,  1796,  and 
1797.    4th  ed.  (London,  1800).     2  vols. 
Contains  an  account  of  the  distribution  of  goods  at  Maiden  to  the 

Indians. 


458  CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 

Wentworth  John.  Early  Chicago.  Fort  Dearborn.  An  address  delivered 
at  the  unveiling  of  the  memorial  tablet  to  mark  the  site  of  the  block- 
house on  Saturday  afternoon,  May  21,  1881  ....  (Chicago,  1881). 

This  constitutes  No.  16  of  the  Fergus  Historical  Series.  As  published 
it  embraces  a  number  of  documents  and  other  material  not  contained  in  the 
original  address. 

Whistler,  John,  Genealogy  of  the  family  of  (MS). 

This  document,  compiled  by  James  Whistler  Wood,  a  grandson  of 
John  Whistler,  is  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library. 

Wilson,  James  Grant.  "Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Lieutenant  James  Strode 
Swearingen,  Together  with  the  Journal  Kept  by  Him  on  the  March  from 
Detroit  to  Chicago  in  1803,"  in  New  York  Herald,  October  4,  1903. 

— .     Chicago  from  1803  to  1812  (MS). 

A  sketch  based  largely  on  information  gained  from  Surgeon  John  Cooper, 
who  was  stationed  at  Fort  Dearborn  from  1803  to  1811. 

Winans,  Susan  Simmons,  Papers  Pertaining  to  the  Securing  of  a  Pension 
for  (MS). 

These  papers,  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  library,  constitute  the 
only  available  source  of  information  concerning  the  life  of  the  last  known 
survivor  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre. 

Winsor,  Justin.  Carder  to  Frontenac:  Geographical  Discovery  in  the  Interior 
of  North  America  in  Its  Historical  Relations,  1534-1700  (Boston,  1894). 

This  and  the  two  volumes  which  follow  are  standard  authorities  for 
their  respective  periods  and  subjects.  They  are  particularly  notable  for 
the  use  made  by  the  author  of  historical  maps  as  a  basis  for  his  narrative. 

.     The  Mississippi  Basin:   the  Struggle  in  America  between  England 

and  France  1697-1763  (Boston,  1895). 

.     The  Westward  Movement:   the  Colonies  and  the  Republic  West  of 

the  Atteghenies  1763-1798  (Boston,  1897). 

.    Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America  (Boston,  1889).    8  vols. 


Wisconsin   State  Historical   Society.     Collections  of  the  State   Historical 
Society  of  Wisconsin.    Vols.  I-XIX  (Madison,  Wis.,  1855-1910). 

This  constitutes  one  of  the  most  valuable  collections  of  material  in 
print  for  the  history  of  the  Northwest. 

Young,  William  T.     "Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Public  Services  of  General 
Lewis  Cass "  2d  ed.  (Detroit,  1852). 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abbott,  James,  trading-post  at  Chicago, 
130;  marriage,  130-31,  158,  170. 

Abbott,  Robert,  trading-post  at  Chi- 
cago, 130. 

"Adams,"  sailing-vessel,  visits  Chicago, 
154;  Hull  plans  to  equip,  214-15, 
243;  carries  Heald  to  Buffalo,  243; 
carries  furs  to  Mackinac,  289. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  pardons  Winne- 
bago  murderers,  320. 

Aird,  James,  crosses  Chicago  Portage, 
289. 

Algonquin  Indians,  expedition  against 
Iroquois,  51-52. 

Allouez,  Father,  successor  to  Mar- 
quette,  29;  at  Chicago,  29. 

Alvord,  Clarence  W.,  study  of  Spanish 
attack  on  St.  Joseph,  100, 439. 

American  Bottom,  settlements  of,  82. 

American  Fur  Company,  Illinois  bri- 
gade, 10,  14-15,  278-79;  John 
Crafts  employee  of,  269;  claim 
against  J.  B.  Chandonnai,  277,  360- 
61;  seeks  monopoly  of  Indian  trade, 
301 ;  hostility  to  factory  system,  306; 
grants  to,  360-61;  invoices,  439. 

American  State  Papers,  439. 

Anderson,  Robert,  in  Black  Hawk 
War,  323. 

Anderson, Thomas  G.,  narrative  of,  135. 

Andreas,  A.  T.,  history,  439. 

Apple  River,  camp  on,  313. 

Arkansas,  factory  at,  295. 

Armstrong,  Fort,  J.  Watson  Webb's 
mission  to,  283;  Illinois  militia  at, 
324;  peace  negotiations  at,  334-35, 
337;  troops  ordered  to,  335.  See 
also  Rock  Island. 

Army,  condition  in  1812,  203-5. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  founds  American 
Fur  Company,  301. 

Atkinson,  Henry,  in  Winnebago  War, 
313;  in  Black  Hawk  War,  323,  334. 


Bad  Axe,  battle,  334. 
Bad  Axe  River,  keelboat  attacked  near 
mouth,  310. 


Baird,  Mrs.,  reminiscences,  274,  277; 

description  of  Chicago,  280-81. 
Baker,    Daniel,    company   ordered    to 
Chicago,  264-65;  horseback  journey 
to  Detroit,  275-76. 

Baker,  E.  D.,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  323. 
Baltimore,  cholera  at,  329. 
Barry,  Rev.  William,  founder  of  Chicago 

Historical  Society,  143;  transcript  of 

John  Kinzie's  account-books,  440. 
Beaubien,  Charles,  grant  to,  346,  359. 
Beaubien,  Jean  Baptiste,  career,  278; 

grants  to,  and  family,  346,  358-59. 
Beaubien,  Josette,  grant  to,  359. 
Beaubien,  Madore,  grant  to,  346,  359. 
Beaubien,  Mark,  keeps  hotel,  350. 
Beaubien  family,  genealogy,  440. 
Beaubien  land  claim,  278. 
Beauharnois,    Charles,    ancestry,    66; 

and  Fox  wars,  69-70,  76-77. 
Beauharnois,  Fort,  evacuated,  66. 
Beeson,  Louis,  collection  of  relics,  306. 
Beggs,  Rev.  Stephen  R.,  narrative  of 

Black  Hawk  War,  325-27;    history, 

440. 
Beggs,  Fort,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  326- 

27. 
Belknap,  Ebenezer,  factor  at  Chicago, 

296-97. 

Bell,  Peter,  story  of,  254. 
Belle  Fontaine,  Fort,  established,  17, 

154;  factory  at,  295. 
Bennett,  Lieutenant,  operations  against 

Americans,  92-94;  arrests  Du  Sable, 

140;  praises  Du  Sable,  141-42. 
Benton,  Thomas  H.,  author  of  Graham 

and    Phillips'    report,    16;     attacks 

factory  system,  301,  305-8;  history, 

440. 
Bertrand,  Kinzie's   trading  house   at, 

132. 
Bertrand,  trader,  grants  to,  347;  grants 

to  family.  357. 
Big  Foot,  in  Winnebago  War,  314-15; 

favors  war  with  whites,  324. 


461 


462 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


Biloxi,  founded,  36. 
Bird,  Henry,  attack  on  Clark,  95. 
Black  Bird,  speech,  193;  receives  sur- 
render of  Heald,  229,  390,  401,  407, 

418. 
Black  Hawk,  leads  Indians  to  Canadian 

frontier,  249;    in  Black  Hawk  War, 

322-25,  334;    later  career,  337;    on 

Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  397;   Life, 

440. 

Black  Hawk  War,  322-29;  cause,  342. 
Black  Partridge,  warns  Heald,  220-21, 

223,  384,  420;    rescues  Mrs.  Helm, 

223,   230,  386-88;    captor  of  Mrs. 

Lee,  255;    asks  for  factory  at  Fort 

Clark,  300. 
Black  Watch  Regiment,  occupies  Fort 

Chartres,  81. 

Blanchard,  Rufus,  history,  440-41. 
Blue  Jacket,  Indian  leader  at  Fallen 

Timbers,  120;    at  Maumee  Rapids, 

146. 

Board  of  Trade,  reports  to,  3,  44. 
Boston  Tea  Party,  David  Kennison  in, 

256-57- 

Bougainville,  memoir,  47. 
Bouquet,  Henry,  ends  Pontiac  War,  80. 
Bourassa,  Joseph,  recollections,  397. 
Bowen,     Joseph,     captivity,     238-39; 

survivor  of  massacre,  423. 
Bowyer,  John,  Indian  agent,  270. 
Bradley,  Hezekiah,  company  ordered 

to  Chicago,  264-65. 
Bradstreet,  John,  in  Pontiac's  war,  80. 
Brady,  Fort,  troops  sent  to  Chicago, 

328. 
Brant,  Joseph,  buys  supplies  of  Kinzie, 

145- 
Breese,  Sidney,  in  Black  Hawk  War, 

323- 
Brevoort,  Commodore,  commands 

"navy  of  the  lakes,"  154. 

British,  reports  to  Board  of  Trade,  3, 
44;  plans  for  campaign  of  1779, 
94-95;  Cruzat's  plans  against,  98; 
raid  Ohio  River  settlements,  103-4; 
policy  in  Northwest,  106-8;  en- 
courage Indians  against  United 
States,  108,  122,  181,  194,  196; 
hostility  toward  Americans,  115; 
build  fort  at  Maumee  Rapids,  118; 
aid  Indians  in  battle  of  Fallen 
Timbers,  121 ;  Wayne  destroys  houses 


and  stores,  121;  surrender  North- 
western posts,  126;  influence  ovei 
Indians,  178,  263;  fear  war  following 
Chesapeake  affair,  187-88;  seek 
Indian  aid  against  Americans,  188. 
194;  warn  Tecumseh  against  pre- 
mature war,  195;  strength  in  North- 
west in  1812,  198-99;  ask  renuncia- 
tion of  portion  of  Northwest,  262; 
capture  furs  of  Chicago  factory,  299! 
See  also  English. 

Brock,  Isaac,  operations  against  Hull, 
210;  letter  to  Proctor,  236. 

Brodhead,  Daniel,  ordered  to  assist 
Clark,  113. 

Brownstown,  American  defeat,  222. 

Buffalo  Gazette,  report  of  Fort  Dear- 
born massacre,  393. 

Buisson,  winters  at  Chicago,  236;  trad- 
ing establishment  at  Chicago,  268. 

Bullock,  Captain,  letter  to  Proctor,  254. 

Burnett  family,  grants  to,  357. 

Burnett,  John,  grant  to,  347. 

Burnett,  William,  expects  fort  at  Chi- 
cago, 129;  letter  of,  155;  dispute 
with  Pattinson,  156;  Healds  stay 
with,  241,  407;  extends  trade  tc 
Chicago,  287. 

Burns,  Thomas,  resident  of  Chicago 
before  1812,  167;  in  Fort  Dearbora 
massacre,  227,  230,  234,  252,  423 
430;  career,  233-34;  in  Chicagc 
militia,  253. 

Burns,  Mrs.  Thomas,  in  Fort  Dearborn 
massacre,  224;  ransomed,  236;  cap- 
tivity and  later  life  of,  252-53;  chil- 
dren, 252-53,  430. 

Bushy  Run,  battle,  80. 

Butte  des  Morts,  treaty,  312,  317. 

Cahokia,  St.  Cosme  at,  42;  Pinet  at, 
42;  British  garrison  at,  81;  popula- 
tion in  1 778, 82 ;  surrenders  to  Clark, 
87;  residents  join  Spanish  expedition 
against  St.  Joseph,  100;  Mrs.  La 
Compt's  career  at,  137-38. 

Caldwell,  Billy,  trading  adventure,  287; 
mission  to  Big  Foot's  village,  315; 
grants  to,  352. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  report  on  Indian 
trade,  291;  confidence  in  T.  L. 
McKenney,  305;  plan  for  abolition 
of  factory  system,  307-9. 

Calumet  Portage,  use,  24. 


INDEX 


463 


Campbell,  Anthony,  in  garrison  feud, 
171-72. 

Campbell,  Robert,  in  battle  of  Fallen 
Timbers,  121. 

Canada,  England  gains,  79;  De  la  Bal- 
me's  project  against,  98;  objects  to 
terms  of  treaty  of  1783, 107;  invasion 
feared,  187-88;  West  desires  con- 
quest, 196;  Dearborn's  plans  for 
invading,  205;  Hull's  invasion,  206, 
209. 

Canal,  across  Chicago  Portage,  5-8, 
12-14,  19-20,  339,  342. 

Cardin,  John  B.,  murdered,  212-13. 

Carey's  Mission,  founded,  345;  treaty 
at,  363-64. 

Cass,  Lewis,  crosses  Chicago  Portage, 
12,  15-16,  19,  313;  on  evil  of  liquor 
to  Indians,  183;  aids  Grummo,  240; 
proposals  for  garrisons  in  the  North- 
west, 263;  party  visits  Chicago,  281; 
in  Winnebago  War,  312,  315,  317-18; 
negotiates  Chicago  Treaty  of  1821, 
343-48. 

Cassopolis,  and  story  of  Job  Wright, 
258-59- 

Caton,  John  D.,  account  of  Potta- 
watomie  dance,  369-70,  441. 

Cavelier,  party  crosses  Chicago  Portage, 
1 8,  38-39;  at  Chicago,  38-39,  44. 

Cerr6,  Gabriel,  adventure  on  Chicago 
Portage,  18-19. 

Chachagwessiou,  trader,  285. 

Chambolee,  bribed  to  capture  Sigge- 
nauk, 101. 

Champlain,  expedition  against  Iro- 
quois,  51-52. 

Chandonnai,  Jean  Baptiste,  in  Fort 
Dearborn  massacre,  222-23;  rescues 
Healds,  240,  409,  412;  visits  Healds, 
245,413;  trading  career,  277;  grants 
t°>  347)  357-58;  claim  of  American 
Fur  Company  against,  277,  360-61. 

Charlevoix,  Father,  tour,  11-12,  16; 
journal,  45-46;  in  Fox  Wars,  63; 
writings,  441. 

Chartres,  Fort,  Fox  raids  reach,  55; 
De  Noyelles  retires  to,  75;  English 
take  possession,  81. 

Chemin  River,  Michigan  City  at  mouth, 
100;  Du  Sable  located  on,  139. 

Cherokee  Indians,  factory  established 
among,  293. 

Chesapeake  affair,  188. 


Chevalier,  Louis,  leads  Pottawatomies 
against  Americans,  90;  aids  Spanish 
against  St.  Joseph,  101. 

Chicago,  natural  advantages,  i;  stra- 
tegic location,  2;  Marquette's  camp, 
24-28;  Allouez  at,  29-30;  Cavelier's 
party  at,  37-38,  44;  origin  of  name, 
38;  mission  of  Guardian  Angel,  38- 
42;  St.  Cosme's  party  at,  40-42; 
French  cease  to  visit,  42;  Wayne 
secures  cession  of  land  at,  42-43, 
123,  125;  French  fort  at,  42-50,  123; 
rendezvous  for  campaign  against 
Indians,  45,  59;  for  campaign  against 
St.  Louis,  95;  for  soldiers  in  Black 
Hawk  War,  328;  Illinois  war  party 
at,  60;  Langlade's  party  at,  97; 
proposals  for  fort  at,  127;  rumors  of 
fort  at,  129;  earliest  resident,  136- 
37;  first  white  woman  resident,  137- 
38;  "father"  of,  145,  148;  John 
Kinzie  locates  at,  147;  slavery  at, 
148-52,  177,  228,  288;  first  wedding, 
1 5  7-58;  civilian  residents  before 
1812,  167;  militia  company  in  Fort 
Dearborn  massacre,  167,  224-25,  227, 
407,413,430-31;  in  Winnebago  War, 
317;  in  Black  Hawk  War,  325-27; 
Indians  plan  visit  to  Prophet,  193; 
speech  of  chiefs  from,  at  Maiden,  193; 
Indian  murders,  212-13;  arrest  of 
Francis  Keneaum,  213-14;  goods  of 
factory  distributed  to  Indians,  217- 
18;  indemnity  for  loss  of,  220; 
establishment  of  factory,  264,  272, 
295 ;  history  of  factory,  296-301 , 308 ; 
operations  of  Robert  Dickson,  237- 
39;  residence  of  David  Kennison  at, 
256-57;  establishment  of  fort  urged, 
263-64;  Indians  gather  at,  264; 
gardening  enterprises,  265-66;  life 
after  establishment  of  second  Fort 
Dearborn,  267-84;  bringing  of  sup- 
plies to,  268;  Indian  trade  at,  268- 
69,  285-309;  John  Kinzie's  career  at, 
after  1816,  269-70;  residence  of 
Jouett  at,  270-71 ;  visits  of  American 
Fur  Company  traders,  278-79;  G.  S. 
Hubbard's  first  visit,  279-80;  S.  A. 
Storrow's  description,  280;  Mrs. 
Baird's  description,  280-81;  visit  of 
Cass  in  1820,  281;  Schoolcraft's 
description,  281;  Schoolcraft's  proph- 
ecy, 281,339;  Keating's  description, 
281-82;  payments  to  Indians  at,  284, 
314,  366-67;  marriage  of  Alexander 
Wolcott,  284;  traders'  huts  at,  287; 
in  Winnebago  War,  313-17;  in  Black 


464 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


Hawk  War,  325-39;  description  in 
1833,  349;  Indian  duel,  352-53; 
Pottawatomies'  farewell  to,  368-70. 
See  also  Fort  Dearborn. 

Chicago  Portage,  3-20;  war  party 
passes,  65;  builds  fort  at,  68;  Ameri- 
cans to  enjoy  free  use  of,  125;  trav- 
elers carried  across,  143-44,  289; 
American  Fur  Company  traders 
cross,  279;  Hugh  Heward  crosses, 
286;  Lewis  Cass  crosses,  313; 
United  States  gains  control  over, 
342;  Swearingen's  description,  377. 

Chicago  River,  bar  at  mouth,  6,  133, 
33X>  376;  Des  Plaines  empties  into, 
9;  Americans  enjoy  free  use  of,  125. 

Chicago  Treaty  of  1821,  183,  343-48. 
Chicago  Treaty  of  1833,  277,  348-66. 
Chicago-Detroit  trail,  68,  131,  343. 
Chicago-Galena  trail,  Scott  traverses, 

334- 
Chickasaw  Bluffs,  factory  established 

at,  295. 
Childs,     Ebenezer,     crosses     Chicago 

Portage,  10. 
Chippewa    Indians,    Sacs    and    Foxes 

wage  war  on,  77;    numbers  of,  83; 

disloyal    to    British,    94;     plot    of, 

against    Northwestern    posts,    193; 

followers  of  Keneaum,  213-14;  bring 

Hull  news  of  surrender  of  Mackinac, 

215;    Indian   rescues   Crozier,    246; 

chief     reveals     plot    against    Fort 

Snelling,  283;  treaty  with,  at  Prairie 

du  Chien,  364. 
Choctaw  Indians,  factory  established 

among,  295. 
Cholera,  epidemic,  328-37. 

Chouteau,  Auguste,  negotiates  treaties, 

262;     furs    taken    across    Chicago 

Portage,  289. 
Cicely,  slave  girl,  177;   death,  227-28, 

430- 

Clark,  cattle  dealer,  167. 
Clark,  husband  of  Elizabeth  McKenzie, 

147. 
Clark,  Fort,  appeal  for  factory  at,  300. 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  operations  in 
Revolution,  84-104;  leads  Ken- 
tuckians  against  Indians,  109. 

Clark,  William,  appeal  of  Fox  Indians 
to,  184;  negotiates  treaties,  262. 

Clybourne,  Jonas,  marriage,  147. 


Columbus,  Fort,  troops  sent  to  Chicago, 

328. 
Confederation,    Indian    trade    policy, 

291-92. 

Congress,  Continental,  Indian  policy, 
290-91. 

Connor,  James,  grant  to,  359. 

Cooper,  Isabella,  in  Fort  Dearborn 
massacre,  252-53. 

Cooper,  John,  surgeon  at  Fort  Dear- 
born, 143,  149;  reports  of  life  at, 
160-61;  description  of,  163;  privi- 
lege to  suttle  at,  172-73,  175;  resigns 
from  army,  175;  on  death  of  Van 
Voorhis,  387. 

Cooper,  Joseph,  death,  252;  stepson 
of  Burns,  431. 

Cooper,  Mrs.    See  Mrs.  Burns. 

Corbin,  Fielding,  captivity,  238-39. 

Corbin,  Mrs.  Fielding,  in  Fort  Dearborn 

massacre,  224;  death,  227. 
Corbin,  James,  captivity,  238-39. 

Corn  Island,  Clark  builds  blockhouse 

on,  85-86. 
Courselle,  house  at  Chicago,  167. 

Court  martial,  proceedings  at  Detroit, 

161-63;     °f    mutineers    in    Hull's 

army,  208. 
Covington,  Leonard,  in  battle  of  Fallen 

Timbers,  121. 
Crafts,  John,  trading  house  at  Chicago. 

268-69. 
Crawford,  Fort,  settlers  take  refuge  in, 

312;  regarrisoned,  321. 

Creek  Indians,  factory  established 
among,  293. 

Crespel,  Father,  shocked  at  tortures, 
65- 

Crevecoeur,  Fort,  built,  31-32;  de- 
stroyed, 32. 

Croghan,  George,  mission  to  western 
tribes,  81. 

Crooks,  Ramsey,  buys  corn  of  Kinzie, 
288;  charges  of,  against  factory 
system,  305-6. 

Crozier,  John,  captivity,  246;  survivor 
of  massacre,  423;  fate,  433. 

Cruzat,  Antoine,  plans  against  British, 

98. 
Cummings,  Alexander,  in  Black  Hawk 

War,  338. 


INDEX 


465 


Dablon,  Father,  report  of  Joliet's 
expedition,  4-5. 

Danville,  militia  company  in  Winnebago 
War,  315-17;  settlers  flee  to,  326. 

Daugherty,  Daniel,  survivor  of  Fort 
Dearborn  massacre,  423. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  at  Fort  Winnebago, 
321;  in  Black  Hawk  War,  323. 

Dawson,  Moses,  on  strength  of  Harrison 
at  Tippecanoe,  200;  biography  of 
Harrison,  442. 

Dean,  John,  horseback  journey  to 
Detroit,  275;  J.  B.  Beaubien  buys 
house,  278. 

Dearborn,  first  Fort,  establishment, 
127-30,  134-36;  John  Whistler 
appointed  commander,  130;  John 
Cooper,  surgeon,  143,  149;  life  at, 
IS3~77>  description  of,  and  sur- 
roundings, 164-67;  garrison  feud, 
171-76;  Main  Poc  threatens,  193; 
Indian  plot  against,  193;  strength  of 
garrison  in  1812,  198,  428-29;  and 
Hull's  campaign,  211;  news  of  War 
of  1812  received,  214,  416;  Hull 
plans  to  send  supplies  to,  214-15; 
Hull's  order  for  evacuation,  215-17; 
378,393,403,406,409,416;  evacua- 
tion of,  217-20;  Wells  reaches,  219, 
225;  ruins  of,  in  1813,  231;  last 
muster  roll,  232-33,  247,  256,  259, 
425-29;  measures  for  relief  of  cap- 
tives, 237-39;  Nathan  Heald  com- 
mander of,  403;  supplies  on  eve  of 
massacre,  388-91,  417. 

Dearborn,  second  Fort,  establishment, 
264-67;  John  McNeil  commander, 
282;  first  white  child  born  in,  282; 
garrison  withdrawn,  283,  310,  322; 
burning  of  barracks,  314;  regarri- 
soned,  321-22;  settlers  take  refuge 
in,  325;  converted  into  cholera 
hospital,  331-32. 

Dearborn,  Fort,  massacre,  preliminary, 
212-13,416;  participants  in,  222-25; 
forces  and  losses  in,  230;  fate  of  sur- 
vivors, 232-61,  422-24;  account  of, 
in  Heald's  Journal,  403;  Heald's 
official  report,  406-8;  Helm's  narra- 
tive, 415-21;  fate  of  women  in,  421, 
430;  Woodward's  letter  concerning 
survivors,  422-24;  names  and  fate 
of  participants,  428-36;  fate  of 
children,  430.  See  also  Chicago. 

Dearborn,  Henry,  plans  for  campaign 
of  1812,  205;  inactivity,  209-10. 


De  Champs,  Antoine,  trader,  138,  303. 
Defiance,    Fort,    built,    118;     Wayne 

retires  to,  122. 

De  Garmo,  Paul.    See  Grummo. 
De  la  Balme,  Augustin,  project  against 

Detroit,     98;      sends     detachment 

against  St.  Joseph,  99. 
De  Lery,  report  of  siege  of  Detroit,  56, 

58. 
De  Leyba,  Francisco,  friendly  to  Clark, 

87;     defense   of   St.    Louis,   95-96; 

death,  98. 

De    Lignery,     Marchand,    expedition 

against  Foxes,  65. 
Denison,  Micajah,  death,  235,  433-34; 

wounded,  423. 
Denonville,  campaign  against  Iroquois, 

38;   on  effects  of  liquor  on  Indians, 

183- 
De  Noyelles,  Nicolas,  expedition  against 

Foxes,  7°-75- 
Department  of  Indian  Trade,  records  of, 

287,  299,  447. 

De  Peyster,  Arent  Schuyler,  proposes 
expedition  against  Illinois  posts, 
90;  defies  Clark,  91-92;  verses,  93; 
succeeds  Hamilton  at  Detroit,  94; 
efforts  to  capture  Siggenauk,  100- 
101 ;  sends  force  against  Americans, 
103;  statement  about  Du  Sable,  139. 

De  Quindre,  Louis,  defeats  Hamelin's 
party,  99;  efforts  against  Spaniards, 
102. 

Des  Moines  River,  Fox  post  on,  72-73. 

Des  Plaines  River,  fluctuations,  6-8, 
16-17;  Thomas  Tousey  explores, 
12-13.  See  also  Chicago  Portage. 

Detroit,  Fox  siege,  55-58;  war  party 
at  Chicago,  61;  resists  Indian  at- 
tack, 80;  center  of  British  control  of 
Northwest,  81,  84;  defenses  in  1776, 
82;  British  expect  assault,  91;  De 
Peyster  stationed  at,  94;  De  la 
Balme's  project  against,  98;  Clark's 
plans  against,  103-4;  outpost  of 
Americans  in  Northwest,  128;  court- 
martial  proceedings  at,  161-63;  John 
Whistler  transferred  to,  175;  Indian 
plot  against,  103;  Indian  attacks 
diverted  to  frontier,  194;  garrison  in 
1812,  198;  appeal  of  settlers  for  pro- 
tection, 200-201;  invasion  of  Cana- 
da from,  planned,  205;  capture,  210; 
effect  of  capture  on  Northwest,  211; 


466 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


Dickson  sends  warriors  to,  238;  jour- 
ney of  Mrs.  Simmons  to,  249;  trip  of 
Jacob  B.  Varnum  and  party  to, 
275-76;  J.  B.  Beaubien  born  at, 
278;  factory  discontinued,  295-96; 
goods  of  Chicago  factory  shipped  to, 
308. 

De  Villiers,  Louis  Coulon,  captures 
George  Washington,  66. 

De  Villiers,  Nicolas  Coulon,  marches 
against  Foxes,  66;  commander  at 
Green  Bay,  69;  slain,  70. 

Diamond  Lake  Island,  and  story  of 
Job  Wright,  258-59. 

Dickson,  Robert,  leads  Indians  to 
Detroit  frontier,  194;  Keneaum's 
mission  to,  213-14;  describes  ruins 
of  Fort  Dearborn,  231;  rouses  In- 
dians against  Americans,  237-38; 
rescues  Fort  Dearborn  captives,  238- 
39,  254;  witnesses  Heald's  parole, 
242;  collects  warriors  at  Green  Bay, 
249;  sends  goods  to  Chicago,  268. 

Dilbone,  Henry,  assault  upon,  and 
family,  250-51. 

Dilg,  Carl,  papers,  382,  442;  rejects 
Mrs.  Kinzie's  narrative,  382;  records 
Alexander  Robinson's  narrative,  398. 

Dillon,  John  B.,  history,  442. 

Dixon's  Ferry,  flight  of  Stillman's  force 
to,  324;  Governor  Reynolds  issues 
call  for  troops  from,  325;  orders  to 
soldiers  at,  335. 

Dodge,  A.  C.,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  323. 

Dodge,  Henry,  in  Winnebago  War,  317; 
in  Black  Hawk  War,  323, 334, 337-38. 

Dorchester,    Lord,     hostility    toward 

Americans,  115,  118. 
Dorr,     Lieutenant,      commander     of 

"Tracy,"  131. 

Douglas,  Captain,  companion  of  School- 
craft,  281. 
Draper,    Lyman    C.,    records    Darius 

Heald's  narrative  of  Fort  Dearborn 

massacre,  381,  409-14. 
Draper   Collection,   Heald   papers  in, 

380,  442. 

Drennan,  D.  O.,  papers,  130,  442. 
Drummond's    Island,    distribution    of 

presents  to  Indians  at,  320. 
Dubuisson,  report  of  siege  of  Detroit, 

55- 
Du  Page  River,  troops  camp  on,  338. 


Du  Pain  (Depain,  Du  Pin),  trader,  at 
Chicago,  236,  268. 

Durand,  employer  of  Du  Sable,  140. 

Durantaye,  fort  of,  47-48. 

Du  Sable,  Baptiste  Point,  De  Peyster 
mentions,  93;  career,  138-42;  trad- 
ing post  at  Chicago,  286. 

Dyer,  Dyson,  captivity,  238-39. 

Economy  Light  and  Power  Company, 

case  of,  7,  456. 

Edson,  Nathan,  captivity,  238-39. 
Edwards,  Abraham,  narrative  of  Burns 

family,   252-53;    employer  of  John 

Crafts,  269. 
Edwards,  Ninian,    Main  Poc's  speech 

to  agent  of,   182;    seeks  to  obtain 

Indian   murderers,    193;     negotiates 

treaties,  262;  report  to,  320;  papers, 

443,  457- 
Elliot,  Matthew,  British  Indian  Agent, 

214. 
English,   compete   for   fur   trade,    53; 

overthrow  French  in  America,  79. 
Erie  Indians,  exterminated,  52. 
Erie,  Lake,  Hull  urges  armed  control  of, 

205-6. 

Ewing,  G.  W.,  grant  to,  359. 
Ewing,  William,  grant  to,  359. 

Factory,  to  be  re-established  at  Chica- 
go, 264;  system,  280-309;  distri- 
bution of  goods  at  Chicago,  406.  See 
also  Fur  Trade;  Indian  Trade; 
Trade. 

Fallen  Timbers,  battle  of,  119-21; 
Hamtramck's  part  in,  131 ;  Tecumseh 
in,  1 86;  sole  decisive  victory  over 
Indians,  199. 

Fever,  among  Northwestern  garrisons, 
135,  158-59- 

Fifth  Infantry,  movements,  321,  338. 

Finney,  Fort,  Treaty  of,  109. 

Firearms,  Iroquois  gain,  52. 

Forsyth,  Robert,  at  Maumee  City, 
239;  secretary  to  Lewis  Cass,  314; 
grants  to,  359,  363;  signs  treaty,  364. 

Forsyth,  Thomas,  relations  with  Jef- 
frey Nash,  148-52;  Heald  employs 
horses  of,  219;  losses  in  Fort  Dear- 
born massacre,  236,  246,  363-64; 
Indians  esteem,  218;  letter  to  Heald, 
236,  255;  ransoms  Helm,  246;  part- 


INDEX 


467 


nerof  JohnKinzie,  287;  on  operations 
of  factory  system,  300-301 ;  witnesses 
treaty,  359-60;  author  of  narrative 
of  Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  394. 

Forsyth,  William,  marries  Mrs.  Kinzie, 
US- 

Fort,  French,  at  Chicago,  42-50; 
French  forts  abandoned,  65;  Pontiac 
plans  to  destroy  English,  80;  Cass 
urges  establishment  in  Northwest, 
263. 

Fortress  Monroe,  troops  in  Black 
Hawk  War,  328-29;  336-37. 

Four-Lakes  country,  pursuit  of  Black 
Hawk  through,  334;  beauty  of,  338- 
39- 

Fourth  Infantry,  honors  to,  207 ;  quells 
mutiny,  208. 

Fowle,  John,  commander  at  Fort  Dear- 
born, 321. 

Fox  Indians,  wars  against  French,  45- 
46,  51-78;  request  liquor  be  kept 
from,  184;  plot  against  Fort  Snelling, 
283.  See  also  Black  Hawk  War; 
Sacs  and  Foxes. 

Fox-Wisconsin  Portage,  Dickson  win- 
ters at ,  214;  Fort  Winnebago  at ,  3  2 1 . 

Fox-Wisconsin  waterway,  54,  263,  321. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  and  government 

trading  houses,  296. 
Fraser,    Lieutenant,    mission,    80-81; 

report  of,  82. 

French,  highways  to  Mississippi,  3; 
seek  route  to  South  Sea,  22;  traders 
in  Illinois,  25-27,  285;  Iroquois 
hostility  for,  51-52;  wars  with 
Foxes,  45-46,  51-78;  compete  with 
English  for  fur  trade,  53;  power  in 
Northwest  tottering,  76-78;  over- 
throw in  America,  79;  negotiations 
in  Treaty  of  1783,  103;  importance 
of  fur  trade  to,  286. 

Frontenac,  Count,  version  of  Joliet's 
report,  4-5;  recalled,  35;  breaks  up 
Pinet's  mission,  39. 

Fur  trade,  death  knell  of,  20;  English- 
French  competition  for,  53;  Fox  war 
hinders,  58-59;  British  desire  to 
control  in  Northwest,  107;  Indians 
engage  in,  285;  volume  of,  in  Illinois, 
288-89.  See  also  Factory;  Indian 
Trade;  Traders. 

Fury,  John,  death,  235, 433-34 ;  wounded, 
423- 


Gage,  Fort,  British  garrison  at,  81. 
Gagnier  family,  assault  on,  310-11. 
Gale,  E.  O.,  reminiscences,  443-44. 
Gale,  John,  and  story  of  Fort  Dearborn 

captive,  260-61. 
Galena,    panic    of    settlers,    312-13; 

volunteers  from,  in  Winnebago  War, 

317. 
Galvez,  Bernardo  de,  operations  against 

British,  94. 

Garner,  Richard,  death,  234,  423,  434. 
Gary  (Guarie),  trader,  138. 
Gary  River,  name  of  North  Branch,  138. 
Gautier,    Charles,    operations   against 
Americans,  90-93. 

Geiger,  Jacob,  relations  with  Heald, 
404. 

"General  Wayne,"  carries  troops  to 
Chicago,  265. 

Geneva,  Lake,  home  of  Big  Foot's 
band, 314. 

Ghent,  Treaty  of,  262. 

Gibault,  Father,  assists  Clark,  86-87. 

Glaize  River,  Wayne  destroys  villages 
on, 117-18. 

Gomo,  gives  news  of  Main  Poc,  194. 

Gordon,  Eleanor,  writings,  444. 

Graham,  John,  negotiates  treaties,  262. 

Graham,  R.,  report  of,  16,  19. 

Grand  Portage,  need  of  fort  at,  263. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  serves  under  William 
Whistler,  169. 

Gratiot,  Fort,  garrisoned,  321;  troops 
from,  sent  to  Chicago,  328;  cholera 
at,  329-30. 

Great  Lakes,  ice  in,  7;  New  France 
extends  to,  52;  Jacob  B.  Varnum's 
voyage  on,  272-73;  northern  bound- 
ary of  United  States,  272-73. 

Green  Bay,  Foxes  threaten,  54;  aban- 
doned, 65,  80;  post  reoccupied,  69, 
80;  Sacs  refuse  to  return  to,  76; 
Dickson  plans  to  send  goods  to,  238; 
captivity  of  Mrs.  Simmons  at,  248- 
49;  Dickson  collects  warriors  at, 
249;  American  fort  established,  263- 
65;  factory  established,  264;  French 
post  at,  286;  Fort  Dearborn  garrison 
ordered  to,  322;  cholera  panic  at, 
330-31.  See  also  Fort  Howard. 

Greenville,  Wayne  establishes  camp  at, 
116;  Wayne  retires  to,  1 23 ;  Prophet 


468 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


begins  career  at,  186;  Treaty  of,  42- 

43,    122-25,    191,    225,    262,    340; 

second  Treaty  of,  1 79. 
"Griffin,"  built,  30;  lost,  31-32. 
Griffith,  William,  letter  of,   234,   253; 

captivity,    236,    242-43;     informant 

of  McAfee,   379,   397;    survivor  of 

massacre,   423;    intends   to  kill  Le 

Claire,  431. 
Grignon,  Augustin,  statements  about 

Du  Sable,  141. 
Grover,  Frank  R.,  on  Pinet's  mission, 

40-41;  addresses,  444. 
Grummo  (De  Garmo),  Paul,  captivity, 

238-40;    account  of  Fort  Dearborn 

massacre,  397. 

Guardian  Angel  Mission,  37-42. 
Guignas,  Father,  captivity,  66. 

Hagar,  Albert  D.,  on  Marquette's 
route,  24. 

Hall,  Benjamin,  Margaret  Kinzie  mar- 
ries, 147. 

Hamelin,  Jean  Baptiste,  expedition 
against  St.  Joseph,  99. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  letter  to,  153; 
death,  156;  son  of,  284. 

Hamilton,  Henry,  rouses  Indians 
against  Americans,  84;  expedition 
against  Vincennes,  87-88;  captured, 
89;  orders  of,  for  campaigns  against 
Americans,  90-91;  imprisonment  of, 

94- 
Hamilton,  Joseph,  marriage,   168;    in 

garrison  feud,  173-74;   sent  to  Fort 

Belle  Fontaine,  175. 
Hamilton,  William  S.,  contractor,  284. 
Hamlin,     John,     performs     marriage 

ceremony,  284. 
Hamtramck,     John,     commander     at 

Detroit,  130;  death,  131;  oninjustice 

to  Indians,  180. 
Hardin,  John,  murder  of,  115. 
Harmar,  Fort,  Treaty  of,  109-10,  122, 

190-91. 

Harmar,  Josiah,  expedition  of,  in. 
Harmon,  Dr.,  treatment  of  cholera,  333. 
Harney,  William  S.,  in  Black  Hawk 

War,  323. 
Harrison,  Fort,  place  in  Northwestern 

frontier,  197;   garrison  in  1812,  198. 
Harrison,   William   H.,   dealings   with 

Tecumseh,  120, 190-92, 341;  governor 


of  Indiana  Territory,  128;  on  liquor- 
drinking  by  Indians,  183-84;  on 
injustice  to  Indians,  180-81;  protests 
against  witchcraft  delusion,  187; 
seeks  to  obtain  Indian  murderers, 
193;  difficulty  with  militia,  204; 
commander  of  Fort  Meigs,  250; 
negotiates  treaties,  262,  340-42; 
biography,  442. 

Hay,  Henry,  journal,  145-46,  444. 

Hayes,  Otto,  death,  228-29,  388. 

Hayward,  Thomas,  factor  at  Chicago, 
297. 

Head,  William  R.,  papers,  134, 149, 382, 
444-45;  preserves  Moses  Morgan 
narrative,  261,  399;  rejects  Mrs. 
Kinzie's  narrative,  382. 

Heald,  Darius,  narrative  of  massacre, 
234,  241,  380-82,  384,  409-14,  449; 
birth,  405. 

Heald,  Nathan,  desires  leave  of  absence, 
153,  176;  birth  of  children,  159,  404- 
5;  commends  John  Whistler,  174; 
transferred  to  Fort  Dearborn,  175- 
76;  visits  New  England,  175-76; 
marriage,  176-77;  receives  news  of 
Indian  depredations,  211-12;  re- 
port of  April  murders,  212;  organizes 
militia  company,  213;  Hull  com- 
mends, 215,  380;  Hull's  order  to,  to 
evacuate  Fort  Dearborn,  215-17, 378, 
393,  403,  406,  409,  416;  responsi- 
bility for  Fort  Dearborn  massacre, 
215,  217-19;  preparations  for  evac- 
uation, 219-20;  Black  Partridge's 
warning  to,  220-21,  223,  384,  420; 
in  Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  223,  226, 
229;  stipulates  prisoners  to  be  spared, 
233;  letter  of  William  Griffith  to, 
234>  2S3!  letters  of  Thomas  Forsyth 
to,  236,  246,  255;  captivity,  240-3, 
403-4,  407;  wounds,  241,  244,  391, 
403,  407,  414;  later  life,  244-45; 
pension,  244,  391-92;  home  of,  245; 
home  looted,  381 ;  gives  factory  goods 
to  Indians,  300;  report  of  massa- 
cre, 379-80,  406-8;  antipathy  of 
Mrs.  Kinzie's  narrative,  385;  con- 
duct in  massacre,  389-90,  415-20; 
journal,  402-5;  obituary,  409;  papers, 
428,  445.  See  also  Chicago;  Fort 
Dearborn. 

Heald,  Mrs.  Rebekah,  birth  of  children, 
159,  404-5;  marriage,  176-77;  death 
of  children,  159,  221,  405;  in  Fort 
Dearborn  massacre,  223,  226,  394, 
409-13;  memorandum  on  property 


INDEX 


469 


losses,  228;  captivity,  240-43,  403-4, 
407;  wounds,  241, 403, 407,  409,  411- 
12;  later  life,  244-45;  narrative  of 
massacre,  380-82, 410-14;  birth,  414; 
daguerreotype  of,  414. 

Heintzelman,  S.  P.,  in  Black  Hawk 
War,  323. 

Helm,  Leonard,  surrenders  Vincennes, 
87-88. 

Helm,  Linai  T.,  member  of  courts- 
martial,  163;  transferred  to  Fort 
Dearborn,  177;  financial  condition, 
J77)  365;  version  of  evacuation 
order,  216;  in  Fort  Dearborn  mas- 
sacre, 230,  401;  captivity,  246-47, 
419-20;  later  career,  276;  narrative 
of  massacre,  378-80,  385,  387-91; 
version  of  Black  Partridge's  warn- 
ing, 384;  wound,  391-92;  pension, 
392;  letter  to  Judge  Woodward 
announcing  narrative  of  massacre, 
415-16;  list  of  survivors  of  massacre, 
421,  431-33;  survivor  of  massacre, 
423- 

Helm,  Mrs.  Linai  T.,  in  Fort  Dearborn 
massacre,  223,  226,  385-88,  419; 
rescue  of,  223,  230,  386-88,  413; 
captivity,  246-47;  second  residence 
at  Chicago,  276;  divorce,  276,  311; 
grants  to,  362,  364-65;  informant 
of  Mrs.  Kinzie,  383;  survivor  of 
massacre,  423. 

Hempstead,  Stephen,  statements  about 
Du  Sable,  141-42. 

Hennepin,  Father,  expedition  planned, 
32;  New  Discovery,  49-50. 

Henry,  James,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  334, 
337-38. 

Henry,  Patrick,  approves  Clark's  plans, 
85;  Fort  Vincennes  named  after,  89. 

"Henry  Clay,"  carries  troops  to  Chi- 
cago, 329;  cholera  on,  332-33. 

Hesse,  Emanuel,  operations  of,  in  1780, 
95- 

Heward,  Hugh,  dealings  with  Du 
Sable,  140-41,  286;  journal,  445. 

Heyl,  Sergeant,  death,  332. 

Hopson,  John,  crosses  Chicago  Portage, 
10. 

Horses,  use  of,  on  Chicago  Portage, 
11-13,  IS~I9>  m  building  first  Fort 
Dearborn,  134. 

Howard,  Fort,  troops  from,  in  Winne- 
bago  War,  317-18. 


Hubbard,  Gurdon  S.,  crosses  Chicago 
Portage,  10,  14-15;  preserves  story 
of  Cerre",  18;  preserves  story  of 
Gary,  138;  first  visit  to  Chicago, 
279-80;  describes  arrival  of  Cass 
at  Chicago,  313-14;  brings  militia 
from  Danville,  315-17;  writings,  446. 

Hulbert,  A.B.,  Portage  Paths,  3,  7,  446. 

Hull,  William,  seeks  to  counteract 
British  machinations  among  Indians, 
188;  campaign  of  1812,  205-10,  214, 
222;  order  for  evacuation  of  Fort 
Dearborn,  215-17,  378,  393,  403, 
406,409,416;  commends  Heald,  380; 
memoirs,  446. 

Hunt,  George,  grant  to,  360. 

Hunt,  John  E.,  aids  De  Garmo,  240. 

Hunt,  Thomas,  commander  at  Detroit, 
158. 

Hunt,  William  N.,  death,  236,  433. 

Hunter,  David,  commander  at  Fort 
Dearborn,  321-22. 

Huron  Indians,  forays  against  Foxes, 
46,  67-69;  Iroquois  ruin,  52;  foray 
against  Mascoutens,  61-62;  defeat 
Foxes,  62;  join  De  Noyelles'  expedi- 
tion, 70. 

Iberville,  expedition  of,  36. 

Illinois,  British  attempts  to  gain  pos- 
session of,  80-8 1 ;  plans  against,  in 
1781,  97-98;  Indian  depredations 
in,  193-94;  settlements  in  1812, 
197;  fur  traders  in,  25-26,  285;  op- 
erations of  American  Fur  Company 
in,  278-79;  volume  of  fur  trade 
in,  288-89;  militia  in  Black  Hawk 
War,  324-25,  334. 

Illinois  Indians,  village  at  Starved 
Rock  destroyed,  33 ;  Foxes  wage  war 
against,  55,  77;  Foxes  attack,  59; 
war  party  comes  to  Chicago,  60; 
war  with  Foxes,  63-64;  abandon 
Starved  Rock,  64;  part  in  De 
Lignery's  expedition,  65;  thievery  of, 
134;  engage  in  fur  trade,  285. 

Illinois  Mission,  founded,  28;  Allouez 
appointed  to,  29;  success  of,  39. 

Illinois  River,  Joliet  and  Marquette 
on,  23-24;  highway  between  Great 
Lakes  and  Mississippi,  51,  263; 
Americans  to  enjoy  free  use  of,  125; 
Indians  cede  land  at  mouth  of,  125; 
ascent  of,  by  Cass,  313;  by  Fort 
Dearborn  garrison,  321. 


470 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


Independence  Day,  celebration,  123. 

Indians,  as  carriers  on  Chicago  Portage, 
18;  population  in  Northwest,  83, 
198-99;  neutrality  in  Revolution,  83; 
British  policy  toward,  84,  106-8; 
desert  Lieutenant  Bennett,  93-94; 
threaten  Langlade,  97 ;  relations  with 
United  States  in  Northwest,  108-9, 
264;  raid  Ohio  frontier,  in,  115; 
British  encourage  against  United 
States,  108,  122,  181,  194,  196;  and 
building  of  first  Fort  Dearborn,  133- 
34;  ideas  of  land  ownership,  178-79; 
failure  of  United  States  government 
policy  toward,  179-84;  use  of  liquor, 
178-79, 182-84, 188-90,  304,  347-48; 
patient  endurance  of  evils,  185; 
Americans  urge  to  neutrality,  188, 
194;  Tecumseh  and  Prophet  attempt 
to  reform,  186-90;  Tecumseh  at- 
tempts to  unite,  190-^92;  oppose 
cession  of  lands,  191;  visit  Maiden, 
193;  plot  against  Northwestern 
posts,  193;  murders  in  Illinois,  193- 
94;  prowess  as  warriors,  199;  horrors 
of  warfare,  200-201;  Dickson  leads 
against  Americans,  237-38;  treaties 
with,  in  Northwest,  262-63;  policy 
of  Continental  Congress  toward, 
290-91;  of  Confederation  toward, 
291;  ask  establishment  of  govern- 
ment trading  houses,  294-95;  plan 
rising  against  Americans,  320;  code 
of  honor,  335-36;  title  to  land  of 
Northwest,  340;  bribery  of,  345-46. 

Indian  Creek  massacre,  327. 

Indian  trade,  basis  of,  53;  competition 
for,  78;  of  Northwest,  rivalry  over, 
107;  at  Chicago,  285-309;  depart- 
ment, records  of,  287,  299,  447; 
factory  system,  289-309. 

Indiana,  territory  created,  128;  Harri- 
son's messages  to  legislature,  180-81, 
183;  fears  of  settlers,  190-92,  325; 
settlements  in  1812,  197;  militia  in 
Black  Hawk  War,  327-28. 

Iroquois  Indians,  destroy  Illinois  village, 
33;  Denonville's  campaign  against, 
38;  war  party  attacks  Foxes,  46; 
Champlain  joins  expedition  against, 
51-52;  gain  firearms,  52;  encourage 
Foxes,  54;  Christian,  join  foray 
against  Foxes,  70;  share  in  De  Noyel- 
les'  expedition,  70,  73-75;  Foxes  ally 
with,  77;  Butler's  speech  to,  118. 

Iroquois  River,  Hubbard's  trading 
house  on,  316. 


Irwin,  Matthew,  factor  at  Chicago,  166, 
298-99;  in  garrison  feud,  173;  report 
of,  on  April  murders,  212;  factor  at 
Green  Bay,  272,  299. 

Irwin,  Robert,  conveys  Healds  to 
Detroit,  242. 

Jacques,  companion  of  Marquette,  24, 
26-7. 

Jay,  John,  negotiates  treaty,  103,  125- 
26. 

Jefferson,  Fort,  St.  Clair's  army  reaches, 
114;  commander  killed,  1 1 6 . 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  resigns  governor- 
ship, 103;  message  on  trading-house 
system,  294-95. 

Jefferson  Barracks,  troops  from,  in 
Winnebago  War,  313,  317;  Fifth 
Infantry  at,  321. 

Jesuit  order,  proselyting  work,  38-39. 

Jews'-harp,  use  of  in  Indian  trade,  306. 

Johnston,  Albert  Sidney,  in  Black 
Hawk  War,  323. 

Johnston,  Joseph  E.,  in  Black  Hawk 
War,  323. 

Joliet,  Louis,  on  Chicago  Portage,  4-6, 
8;  proposes  canal  at  Chicago  Portage, 
5-6,  19;  expedition  of,  22-24. 

Jones,  George  W.,  in  Black  Hawk  War, 
323- 

Jordan,  Walter,  report  of  Fort  Dear- 
born massacre,  394-96. 

Jouett,  Charles,  names  son  for  La 
Lime,  149;  Indian  agent  at  Chicago, 
166,  270-71;  in  garrison  feud,  173- 
76;  house  fortified,  213;  in  charge 
of  Chicago  factory,  297;  invoices 
furniture  of  factory,  293. 

Joutel,  narrative,  36-38. 

Juries,  western,  refuse  to  convict  of 
crimes  against  Indians,  180-81. 

Kankakee  River,  Charlevoix  follows, 
11-12,  16,  45;  not  used  by  Mar- 
quette, 28-29;  John  Kinzie  trades 
on,  147. 

Kaskaskia,  population  in  1778,  82; 
Clark  captures,  86. 

Kawkeemee,  wife  of  Burnett,  347. 

Keating,  William  H.,  narrative  of 
Long's  expedition,  10,  448;  on 
Chicago's  lake  trade,  268;  descrip- 
tion of  Chicago,  281-82. 


INDEX 


Keith.  Governor,  memorial  to  Board  of 
Trade,  44. 

Kelso,  John,  escapes  from  April  mur- 
ders, 212. 

Kendall,  Amos,  on  character  of  militia, 

203-4. 

Keneaum,  Francis,  mission  of,  213-14. 

Kennison,  David,  career,  255-57;  sur- 
vivor of  massacre,  432,  434. 

Kentucky,  G.  R.  Clark  settles  in,  85; 
county  of,  created,  85;  inhabitants 
raid  Indians,  109,  in;  volunteers  in 
Wayne's  army,  116-17;  people  kill 
Indians,  180. 

Kercheval,  B.  B.,  grant  to,  360. 

Kercheval,  Gholson,  grant  to,  360. 

Kickapoo  Indians,  allies  of  Foxes,  56; 
war  parties  against  Foxes,  58;  desert 
Foxes,  66. 

Kingsbury,  Jacob,  papers,  17,  448; 
crosses  Chicago  Portage,  17,  289; 
establishes  Fort  Belle  Fontaine,  154; 
contents  of  letter  books,  155-56; 
birth  of  daughter,  158;  court  martial 
proceedings  ,162-63;  commends  John 
Whistler,  174;  offered  command  of 
Northwestern  army,  206;  letter  to 
John  Whistler,  288. 

Kinzie,  Elizabeth,  comes  to  Chicago, 
147- 

Kinzie,  Ellen  Marion,  marriage,  284. 

Kinzie,  James,  comes  to  Chicago,  147; 
grant  to,  359. 

Kinzie,  John,  carries  traders  across 
portage,  16,  19;  house  at  Chicago, 
142,  166,  268;  account  books,  143, 
149,  167,  256,  269,  287,  289,  378-79; 
career,  145-52;  kills  John  La  Lime, 
149-50;  relations  with  Jeffrey  Nash, 
151-52;  dispute  with  Pattinson,  156; 
performs  marriage  ceremony,  158; 
in  garrison  feud,  172-74;  moves 
family  into  Fort  Dearborn,  213;  and 
evacuation  of  Fort  Dearborn,  218- 
19,  417,  420;  Heald  employs  horses, 
219;  in  Fort  Dearborn  massacre, 

222,     227,     230,     232,     385,    420,     429; 

losses  in  massacre,  236,  246,  363-64; 
experiences  of  family  after  massacre, 
246;  urges  re-establishment  of  fort 
at  Chicago,  264;  career  at  Chicago 
after  1816,  269-70;  sub-Indian  agent, 
270,  363;  goods  of  factory  deposited 
with,  275;  American  Fur  Company 
appeals  to,  277;  household,  280; 


learns  of  plot  against  Fort  Snelling, 
283;  trading  operations,  287-88; 
invoices  furniture  of  factory,  298; 
recognizes  Cass's  party,  313-14; 
helps  negotiate  treaty,  347;  claims  of 
heirs,  361-65;  tells  story  of  death  of 
Sergeant  Hayes,  388;  and  story  of 
forged  order,  389,  417;  influence  over 
Indians,  390,  419;  writes  Heald  of 
Indian  hostility,  416;  biography,  444 ; 
family,  genealogy,  448. 

Kinzie,  Mrs.  John,  marriage,  145-46; 
intercedes  for  Helm,  246;  in  Fort 
Dearborn  massacre,  385. 

Kinzie,  John  H.,  share  in  Chicago 
Treaty  of  1833,  358,  361-64;  sub- 
Indian  agent,  361,  383;  signs  Treaty 
of  Prairie  du  Chien,  364;  marriage, 
383- 

Kinzie,  Mrs.  Juliette  A.  (John  H.), 
account  of  Du  Sable,  139,  142;  story 
of  Ouilmette,  144;  narrative  of  April 
murders,  212;  version  of  evacuation 
order,  216;  story  of  cholera  panic, 
330-31;  narrative  of  Fort  Dearborn 
massacre,  379,  382-88,  391,  413; 
writings,  448-49. 

Kinzie,  Maria  Indiana,  marriage,  322. 

Kinzie,  Robert,  in  Fort  Dearborn  fire, 
314;  grants  to,  361-64. 

"Kinzie's  Improvement,"  132,  375. 

Kirkland,  Joseph,  interviews  Darius 
Heald,  381;  estimate  of  Wau  Bun, 
385;  writings,  449. 

Knaggs,  William,  grant  to,  346. 

Koshkonong,  Lake,  Black  Hawk  re- 
treats to,  334. 

La  Barre,  Lefevre  de,  hostile  to  La 

Salle,  35. 

La  Compt,  Mrs.,  career,  137-38. 
La  Framboise,  Joseph,  grant  to,  358. 
La  Framboise,  Josette,  marriage,  278. 
La  Framboise,  Mrs.,  statement  about 

Du  Sable,  141. 
Lahontan,  Baron  de,  maps,  4;   crosses 

Chicago   Portage,    17-18;    writings, 

449- 
La  Lime,  John,  occupies  Kinzie's  house, 

142;     career,    148-50;     house,    166; 

reports    Indian    depredations,    194; 

report  of  April  murders,  212. 
La  Lime,  John  [son  of  above  ?],  grant  to, 

347- 


472 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


Lamb,  Charles  A.,  story  of  Grummo, 
239-40. 

Land,  process  of  obtaining  cessions, 
178-79;  Tecumseh's  contentions, 
190-92,  341;  hunger  of  whites  for, 
178,  341. 

Langlade,  Charles  de,  captures  Picka- 
willany,  78,  90;  operations  against 
Americans,  90-93;  in  attack  on  St. 
Louis,  95,  97;  and  Du  Sable,  139. 

La  Salle,  description  of  Chicago  Port- 
age, 4-11;  uses  St.  Joseph  Portage, 
5;  early  explorations,  21 ;  at  Chicago, 
21-22;  career,  30-36;  survivors  of 
Texan  expedition,  37-38;  followers 
build  fort  at  Chicago,  47;  colony 
founded  on  Indian  trade,  286. 

Latrobe,  Charles  J.,  account  of  Chicago 
Treaty  of  1833,  349~57,  writings,  449. 

Latta,  James,  death,  234. 

Laval,  Bishop,  Pinet  appeals  to,  39. 

Le  Claire  (Le  Clerc),  Jean  B.,  grant  to, 
347- 

Le  Claire  (Le  Clerc),  Pierre,  brings 
news  of  war  to  Fort  Dearborn,  214; 
grant  to,  347;  member  of  Chicago 
militia,  431. 

Lee,  farmer  at  Chicago,  167;  murders 
at  farm  of,  212-13;  evacuation 
means  financial  ruin,  218;  captivity 
of  family,  254-55 ;  member  of  Chicago 
militia,  431. 

Lee,  Lillian,  death,  255. 

Lee,  Mrs.,  ransomed,  236,  255;  cap- 
tivity, 254-55. 

Le  Mai,  resident  of  Chicago,  142; 
home  of,  166. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  in  Black  Hawk 
War,  323;  nomination,  370. 

Lincoln  Park,  Kennison  buried  in,  257. 

Linctot,  expedition  of,  92-93. 

Lindsay,  A.B.,  closes  Chicago  factory, 
308." 

Lipcap,  murder  of,  311. 

Liquor,  Burnett  needs,  129;  Du 
Sable's  stock,  140;  Indians  plied 
with,  at  treaties,  178-79;  efforts  to 
suppress  traffic  vain,  182;  effects  on 
Indians,  182-84,  188-90,  304;  given 
to  Indians,  188;  Prophet  forbids 
use  of,  189-90;  destruction  of,  at 
Fort  Dearborn,  220,  236,  246,  389, 
393-94,  406,  410;  drinking  at  close 
of  Winnebago  War,  317;  drinkers 


victims  of  cholera,  333,  336;  eager- 
ness of  Indians  for,  347-48;  Mrs. 
Heald  ransomed  with,  412. 

Little  Turtle,  in  St.  Glair's  defeat,  114; 
at  Fallen  Timbers,  120;  contentions 
at  Treaty  of  Greenville,  123;  at 
Maumee  Rapids,  146;  on  evils  of 
liquor-drinking,  184. 

Lockwood,  James  H.,  attack  upon 
family  averted,  311. 

Loftus,  Major,  defeat  of  expedition,  80. 

Logan,  Hugh,  death,  236,  404. 

Logan,  James,  report  of,  3-4,  44,  50. 

London,  cholera  at,  333. 

Long,  Stephen  H.,  topographical  report, 
8,  266-07;  expedition  of,  281. 

Long  River,  story  of,  17-18. 

Louisiana,  La  Salle  takes  possession,  34; 
La  Salle  the  father  of,  36;  France 
loses,  79;  and  establishment  of 
Fort  Dearborn,  128-29;  court  up- 
holds free  character  of  Illinois  Ter- 
ritory, 151-52;  revolt  discussed,  156; 
attacks  on  settlements  proposed,  194. 

Louvigny,  makes  peace  with  Foxes,  58; 
expedition  against  Foxes,  59,  62-63; 
trading  project,  127. 

Loyalists,  anger  of  patriots  for,  106. 

Lynch,  Michael,  death,  246,  433-34. 

McAfee,  Robert  B.,  version  of  Black 
Partridge's  warning,  221;  account  of 
Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  379,  397; 
history,  449. 

McArthur,  Duncan,  negotiates  treaties, 
262. 

McClernand,  John  A.,  in  Black  Hawk 
War,  323. 

McCoy,  Rev.  Isaac,  meets  cattle 
drivers,  268;  share  in  Chicago  Treaty 
of  1821,  345-46;  history,  449. 

McHenry,  Fort,  troops  from,  sent  to 
Chicago,  328-29. 

Mclntosh,  Fort,  treaty  of,  109,  190-91. 

McKee,  Captain,  gives  liquor  to  In- 
dians, 188. 

McKenney,  Thomas  L.,  Ben  ton's 
charges  against,  305;  cross  examines 
Lindsay,  308;  negotiates  treaty,  312. 

McKenzie,  Elizabeth,  story  of,  146-47. 

McKenzie,  Isaac,  recovers  daughters, 
147- 

McKenzie,  Margaret,  story  of,  146-47. 


INDEX 


473 


McKillip,  Mrs.  Eleanor,  marries  John 
Kinzie,  145-46.  See  also  Kinzie, 
Mrs.  John. 

McKillip,  Margaret,  marries  Lieuten- 
ant Helm,  147.  See  also  Helm, 
Mrs. 

McNeil,  John,  commander  of  Fort 
Dearborn,  282. 

McNeil,  Mrs.  John,  half-sister  of  Frank- 
lin Pierce,  282. 

McNeil,  J.  W.  S.,  son  of  John  McNeil, 
282. 

Mackinac,  rendezvous  against  Foxes, 
59;  captured  in  Pontiac's  war,  80; 
English  reoccupy,  80;  expect  assault, 
91;  Patrick  Sinclair  takes  command, 
94;  last  Northwestern  post  sur- 
rendered, 126;  outpost  of  Americans 
in  Northwest,  128;  dulness  of  life  at, 
153;  Indian  plot  against,  193;  garri- 
son in  1812,  198;  Hull  learns  of  sur- 
render, 209,  215;  Dickson's  share  in 
capture,  214,  237;  Hull  plans  to 
supply,  214-15;  Dickson  leads  war- 
riors to,  238;  experience  of  Healds  at, 
242;  Jacob  B.  Varnum  winters  at, 
273-74;  headquarters  of  American 
Fur  Company,  278;  French  post  at, 
286;  factory  at,  295,  298;  garrison 
changed,  321. 

Madison,  Fort,  factory  at,  295. 

Mahnawbunnoquah,  wife  of  J.  B. 
Beaubien,  346. 

Main  Poc,  speech  on  injustice  to  In- 
dians, 182;  followers  threaten  Fort 
Dearborn,  193;  marauding  of,  194; 
sends  news  of  Hull's  reverses,  393. 

Maiden,  distribution  of  goods  to  In- 
dians, 1 88;  Northwestern  Indians 
visit,  193;  Hull's  operations  before, 
209;  Brock  reaches,  210;  Hull  hopes 
for  surrender  of,  217. 

Mann,  Mrs.,  grant  to,  358. 

Mantet,  trading  project,  127. 

Maps,  list  of,  450. 

Marest,  Father,  in  Fox  war,  58. 

Marietta,  founded,  109;  settlements 
near,  raided,  in. 

Marquette,  Father,  crosses  Chicago 
Portage,  9;  interest  in  exploration, 
22;  founds  mission  of  St.  Ignace,  23; 
joins  Joliet's  expedition,  23;  second 
expedition,  24-29;  death,  28;  Indian 
traders  accompany,  285. 


Marsh,  Laurie,  grant  to,  360. 
Mascouten  Indians,  allies  of  Foxes,  56; 

kill  Miami  squaws,  56-57;  war  parties 

against  French,   58;     Huron   foray 

against,  61-62;  desert  Foxes,  66. 
Mason,    Edward    G.,    credits   French 

fort  tradition,  43;   describes  fort  at 

Chicago,     47;      study    of    Spanish 

attack  on  St.  Joseph,  100;    credits 

story  of  Job  Wright,  259;    account 

of  Fort  Dearborn  massacre  reprinted, 

309;   writings,  451. 

Massac,  Fort,  Heald  commander  of,  402. 
Massachusetts,     government     trading 

houses,  290. 
Matchekewis,  joins  in   attack  on  St. 

Louis,  95. 
Matson,  N.,  account  of  Du  Sable,  139; 

account  of  captivity  of  Lee  family, 

255;  writings,  255,  451. 
Maumee  City,  settlement  at,  239. 
Maumee  Rapids,  British  build  fort  at, 

118;    settlement  at,  145-46;    Hull's 

army  reaches,  209. 
Maumee  River,  Wayne  destroys  villages 

on,   117-18;    Cass  and   Schoolcraft 

ascend,  343. 
Meigs,  Fort,  Mrs.  Simmons  reaches, 

250. 
Meigs,    Governor,    raises    militia    for 

Hull's  campaign,  207. 
Metea,  speech  of  Cass  to,  183;    Pot- 

tawatomie  orator,  344. 

Miami,  De  la  Balme  captures,  98. 

Miami,  Fort,  location,  4,  44,  49;  La 
Salle  builds,  31;  captured  in  Pon- 
tiac's war,  80. 

Miami  Indians,  Harmar's  expedition 
against,  no-n;  St.  Clair  to  estab- 
lish fort  among,  112;  villages 
ravaged,  122;  followers  of  Wells  in 
Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  217,  219, 
225,  229,  406,  416. 

Michigan,  settlements  in  1812,  196-97; 
Hull  as  governor,  205;  Hull  sur- 
renders to  British,  210;  panic  of 
settlers  in  Black  Hawk  War,  325; 
militia  in  Black  Hawk  War,  327-28. 

Militia,  character  in  1812,  203-4. 
Mills,  Elias,  captivity,  238-39. 

Milwaukee,  character  of  Indian  popula- 
tion, 83;  Indians  join  Spaniards 
against  St.  Joseph,  100. 


474 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


Mirandeau,  Jean  Baptiste,  grant  to,  362. 

Mirandeau,  Thomas,  grant  to,  362. 

Mississippi  River,  Joliet  and  Marquette 
descend,  22-23;  Hennepin's  explora- 
tion planned,  32;  La  Salle  descends, 
34;  Spain  seeks  exclusive  navigation, 
105;  Cass  descends,  313;  Black 
Hawk's  followers  cross,  323,  334; 
western  boundary  of  United  States, 
340- 

Missouri  Gazette,  report  of  Fort  Dear- 
born massacre  in,  393-94. 

Moll,  Herman,  description  of  Chicago 
Portage,  3-4;  maps,  4,  450. 

Montgomery,  John,  pursues  British,  97. 

Montigny,  threatens  Foxes,  64. 

Moreau,  Pierre,  courier  de  bois,  in 
Illinois,  25-27. 

Morgan,  George,  urges  expedition 
against  Detroit,  84. 

Morgan,  Moses,  workman  on  second 
Fort  Dearborn,  134;  describes  Ouil- 
mette,  145;  story  of  Fort  Dearborn 
captive,  260-61;  narrative  of  mas- 
sacre, 390-401. 

Mortt,  August,  death,  236,  334. 

Moses,  John,  estimate  of  Mrs.  Kinzie's 
narrative,  382;  history,  451. 

Mount  Joliet  (Mon jolly),  portage  ex- 
tends to,  11-12,  16;  furs  transported 
between,  and  Chicago,  289. 

Mud  Lake,  La  Salle  describes,  6;  pas- 
sage of,  by  American  Fur  Company 
traders,  14-15;  Cass  passes  night  on, 
3i3- 

Murders,  of  Indians  by  whites,  180-82; 
by  Indians  in  Illinois,  193-94. 

Nachitoches,  factory  at,  295. 

Nakewoin,  joins  Spaniards  against  St. 
Joseph,  100. 

"Napoleon,"  transports  Michigan  mili- 
tia, 328. 

Nash,  Jeffrey,  case  of,  148,  150-52, 
450;  articles  of  indenture,  287. 

Navy,  in  War  of  1812,  202-3. 

Nayocantay,  speech,  320. 

Necessity,  Fort,  capture  of,  66. 

Needs,  John,  death,  433-34. 

Needs,  Mrs.  John,  fate,  235-36. 

New  Orleans,  cholera  at,  329. 

Niagara,  portage  at,  4;  council  at,  109; 
invasion  of  Canada  from,  planned, 
205. 


Niagara,  Fort,  garrison  changes,  321- 
22;  troops  from,  sent  to  Chicago, 
327-28;  troops  return  to,  338. 

Nicolet,  Jean,  exploration  of,  52. 

Niles,  Fort  St.  Joseph  at,  45;  militia 
mustered  out  at,  328;  Carey's  Mis- 
sion near,  345. 

Niles'  Register,  reports  of  Fort  Dearborn 
massacre  in,  392-96. 

Noles,  Joseph,  captivity,  238-39. 

Nontagarouche,  taunts  De  Noyelles, 
73- 

Northwest,  Indian  population  at  open- 
ing of  Revolution,  83;  French- 
Spanish  efforts  to  gain,  105;  posts 
held  by  British,  106-7;  relations 
between  Indians  of,  and  United 
States  after  Revolution,  108;  terri- 
torial government  provided,  109; 
title  to  land  of,  125,  340;  posts  sur- 
rendered to  Americans,  126;  Wayne's 
victory  makes  settlement  possible, 
127-28;  unrest  of  Indians,  178; 
dangers  to  frontier,  196-97;  de- 
fenses in  1812,  197-98;  strength  of 
British  and  Indian  forces  in,  198-99; 
panic  of  settlers,  200;  effect  of 
Hull's  capture  on,  211;  United  States 
asked  to  renounce  portion  of,  262; 
government  to  establish  garrisons  in, 
264;  American  Fur  Company  at- 
tempts to  monopolize  trade  of,  301; 
treaties  closing  War  of  1812  in,  363. 

Nuscotnemeg,  murders  white  men,  193- 
94;  in  Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  223; 
Storrow  meets,  280. 

O'Fallon,  John,   ransoms  property  of 

Healds,  243. 
O'Fallon  (Missouri),  Heald  home  at, 

244-45. 
Ohio,  admission  of,   128;    conduct  of 

militia  in  Fort  Wayne  campaign,  204; 

militia  in  Hull's  army,  206-7  >  Hull's 

advance  through,  207-9. 

Ohio,  Falls  of,  Clark  builds  block- 
house at,  85-86;  Clark  retires  to,  94; 
expedition  against  Clark  at,  95; 
British  plan  to  attack  Clark  at,  104. 

Ohio  Company,  founds  Marietta,  109. 
Ohio  River,   British  raid  settlements, 

103-4. 
Okra,    tells    story    of    Fort    Dearborn 

massacre,  400. 


INDEX 


475 


.Onontio,  designation  of  French  gover- 
nor and  king,  64. 

Onorakinguiah,  bravery  of,  73-74. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  prohibition  of 
slavery  in,  upheld,  152. 

Osage,  Fort,  factory  at,  295. 

Ottawa  Indians,  follow  Prophet's  ad- 
vice, 1 90;  plot  of,  against  North- 
western posts,  193;  and  Chicago 
Treaty  of  1821,  344-45;  treaty  with, 
at  Prairie  du  Chien,  364. 

Ottawa  River,  French  follow  route  of, 
52- 

Ouashala,  Fox  chief,  63;  nephew 
burned,  64. 

Ouiatanon,  population,  82;  Linctot 
reaches,  93;  French  post  at,  286. 

Ouiatanon  Indians,  measles  among,  59- 
60;  visited  by  De  Noyelles,  71. 

Ouilmette,  Antoine,  transports  travelers 
across  portage,  13,  19,  143;  career, 
142-45;  house  of,  166;  hired  to 
prepare  garden,  265;  hires  wagon, 
289. 

Ouilmette,  Josette,  grant  to,  358,  362. 

Owen,  Thomas  J.  V.,  negotiates  treaty, 
354- 

Paris, Treaty  of,  79, 340;  cholera  at,  333. 

Parkman,  Francis,  account  of  siege  of 
Detroit,  55;  writings,  452. 

Patrick  Henry,  Fort,  named,  89. 

Pattinson,  Hugh,  dispute  with  John 
Kinzie,  156;  hires  furs  carried  across 
Chicago  Portage,  289. 

Peck,  John  M.,  Annals  of  the  West 
corrected,  414. 

Peoria,  variations  of  name,  77;  Du 
Sable  at,  139-40;  John  Kinzie  trades 
at,  147,  287;  servitude  of  Jeffrey 
Nash  at,  152;  Helm  at,  246.  See 
also  Fort  Clark;  Fort  Crevecoeur; 
Lake  Peoria. 

Peoria,  Lake,  Fort  Crevecoeur  at,  3 1-33; 
Linctot  at,  92;  Montgomery  reaches, 
97;  Spaniards  leave  boats  at,  101; 
Indians  cede  land  at,  125. 

Pepin,  Lake,  French  fort  on,  abandoned, 

65- 
Petchaho,  asks  establishment  of  factory 

at  Fort  Clark,  300. 
Petite  Fort,  fight  at,  99-100. 


Pettle,  Louis,  trader,  142;   member  of 

Chicago  militia,  431. 
Phillips,  Joseph,  report  of,  16,  19. 
Pickawillany,  capture  of,  78,  90. 
Pierce,  Benjamin  K.,  marriage,  274. 
Pierce,  Franklin,  brothers  at  Mackinac, 

274;  Mrs.  McNeil  a  half-sister,  282. 
Pinet,  Father,  mission  of,  at  Chicago, 

38-42,  137;  at  Cahokia,  42. 
Pitt,  Fort,  resists  Indian  attack,  80; 

importance  of,  83. 
Pittsburgh,   Wayne   establishes    camp 

near,  116;  Healds  at,  243. 
Plainfield  (111.),  panic  of  settlers,  325- 

27. 

Poindexter,  Thomas,  death,  285,  434. 
Pokagon,  grant  to,  357. 
Pomme  de  Cigne  River,  Fox  forts  on, 

72. 

Popple,  Henry,  map,  44,  450. 
Portage  des  Sioux,  whites  killed  near, 

193;   treaties  negotiated  at,  262. 
Porter,  George  B.,  negotiates  treaty, 

354- 
Porter,  Rev.  Jeremiah,  describes  Indian 

gathering  at  Chicago,  366-67;   writ- 
ings, 452. 
Porteret,  Pierre,  companion  of  Mar- 

quette,  24. 
Porthier,    Mrs.    Victoire,    version    of 

La  Lime's  death,  150;  grant  to,  361- 

62. 
Pottawatomie    Indians,    numbers    at 

opening    of    Revolution,    83;     plot 

against    Northwestern    posts,    193; 

Dickson  among,  at  St.  Joseph,  238; 

at  Maumee  City,  239;  payment  of 

annuity  to,   314;    in   Black   Hawk 

War,  323-24;   treaties  with,  343-66; 

Carey's  Mission  among,  345;    fare- 
well to  Chicago,  367-70. 

Prairie  du  Chien,  factory  and  garrison 
at,  264;  garrison  withdrawn,  310; 
militia  organized,  312;  treaties  of, 
312,  317,  358,  364-65;  Red  Bird's 
imprisonment  at,  319-20;  General 
Scott  at,  334. 

Presque  Isle,  captured  in  Pontiac's 
war,  80. 

Proctor,  Henry  A.,  disclaims  responsi- 
bility for  Fort  Dearborn  massacre, 
236;  orders  Fort  Dearborn  captives 
ransomed,  239;  letter  of  Woodward 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


to,  239,  422-24,  428;  letter  of  Bul- 
lock to,  254;  paroles  Heald,  403. 

Prophet,  The,  career,  185-90;  cause 
of  agitation  led  by,  341- 

Puthuff,  Major,  performs  marriage 
ceremony,  274. 

"Queen  Charlotte,"  carries  news  of 
Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  393. 

Ramezay,  Claude  de,  recommends 
fort  at  Chicago,  44. 

Rangers,  protect  Ohio  frontier,  in; 
cholera  among  United  States,  335. 

Recovery,  Fort,  built,  116;  assault  on, 
117. 

Red  Bird,  attacks  Gagnier  family,  310- 
n;  surrender  and  death,  318-20. 

Revolution,  in  the  West,  81-104. 

Reynolds,  John,  story  of  Mrs.  La 
Compt,  137-38;  in  Black  Hawk 
War,  323-25,  337;  negotiates  treaty, 
337;  history,  452. 

Rhea,  James,  troops  fever  stricken,  159; 
transferred  to  Fort  Wayne,  i75~7°- 

Rhone  River,  floods  of,  7,  9. 

Rice,  Luther,  grant  to,  359. 

Roberts,  Charles,  and  recovery  of 
Fort  Dearborn  captives,  237;  treat- 
ment of  Healds,  242,  403,  407, 413. 

Robinson,  Alexander,  statements  about 
Du  Sable,  141-42;  resident  of  Chi- 
cago in  1816,  144;  in  Fort  Dearborn 
massacre,  223;  conveys  Healds  to 
Mackinac,  241-42,  413-14;  hired  to 
prepare  garden,  265;  grants  to,  357; 
narrative  of  massacre,  398;  given 
charge  of  Heald,  401. 

Rock  Island,  garrison  to  be  established, 
264;  cholera  at,  335~37;  troops 
leave,  337-38.  See  also  Fort  Arm- 
strong. 

Rock  River,  Montgomery's  expedition 
on,  97;  Black  Hawk  plans  to  raise 
crop  on,  324;  march  of  troops  along, 
335;  Black  Hawk's  speech  on  beauty 
of  country,  337. 

Ronan,  George,  ordered  to  Fort  Dear- 
born, 177;  account  of,  in  Wau  Bun, 
223;  in  Fort  Dearborn  massacre, 
226;  death,  407. 

Russell,  April  murders  at  farm  of,  212- 
13- 


Sac  Indians,  allies  of  Foxes,  56;  shelter 
Foxes,  70;  assist  Americans,  91; 
murderers  of  Menominees,  335-36; 
murder  Americans,  341. 

Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  confederation,  70 ; 
wage  war  on  Illinois  and  Chippe- 
was,  77;  part  in  attack  on  St.  Louis, 
95-96;  maintain  hostile  attitude, 
262;  treaties  with,  337,  341-42. 

St.  Ange,  Jean  de,  commands  Charle- 
voix's  escort,  63;  leads  expedition 
against  Foxes,  66. 

Sainte  Ange,  Pilette  de,  early  resident 
of  Chicago,  137. 

St.  Clair,  Arthur,  governor  of  North- 
west Territory,  109;  negotiates 
treaty  of  Fort  Harmar,  100-10; 
calls  for  troops,  no;  expedition  of, 
111-14;  letters  of,  153,  180. 

St.  Cosme,  Father,  crosses  Chicago 
Portage,  n,  17;  letter  of,  40;  party 
of,  at  Chicago,  40-42;  at  Cahokia, 
42. 

St.  Ignace,  Mission  of,  23. 

St.  Joseph,  Linctot  plans  to  attack,  93 ; 
Hamelin  captures,  99;  Spanish  at- 
tack on,  100-103  >  studies  of,  100, 102, 
439,  451,  455;  Fort  Dearborn  garri- 
son camps  at,  130,  132,  136;  captiv- 
ity of  Healds  at,  241,  403,  407; 
French  post  at,  286;  Michigan 
militia  at,  328. 

St.  Joseph,  Fort,  at  Niles,  45;  captured 
in  Pontiac's  war,  80;  relics  from,  306. 

St.  Joseph  Portage,  La  Salle  uses,  5; 
Hubbard  uses,  15;  description  of, 
375.  See  also  Kankakee  River. 

St.  Joseph  River,  Harmar  destroys 
towns  on,  in;  Swearingen  descends, 
132;  Kinzie  removes  to,  146;  traders 
operate  at  Chicago,  287. 

St.  Lawrence  River,  gives  French  access 

to  interior,  2. 
St.  Louis,  British  attack  on,   95-97; 

preparations  against  in   1781,   100; 

treaty  negotiated  at,  341-42. 

St.  Louis,  Fort,  navigation  begins  at, 
6;  built,  35;  Cavelier's  party  at, 
37-38;  ordered  abandoned,  44: 
Tonty  succeeds  La  Salle  at,  286.  See 
also  Starved  Rock. 

St.  Mary's  River,  Harmar  destroys 
towns  on,  in;  Wayne  ravages  vil- 
lages on,  122. 


INDEX 


477 


St.  Peter's  River,  Long's  expedition  to, 
281 ;  factory  to  be  established  on,  301. 

Sandusky,  captured  in  Pontiac's  war, 
80;  John  Kinzie  at,  145;  Jacob  B. 
Varnum  at,  271,  303;  factory  at, 
2QS- 

Sandwich,  Hull  captures,  209;  aban- 
dons, 217;  Dickson  at,  238. 

Sauganash  Hotel,  350,  369. 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  English  abandon,  80; 
reoccupy,  80;  garrison  changed,  321. 

Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.,  crosses  Chicago 
Portage,  12,  15-16,  19;  records  in- 
formation about  Du  Sable,  141;  de- 
scription of  Chicago  in  1820, 281,339; 
describes  Chicago  Treaty  of  1821, 
343;  account  of  Fort  Dearborn 
massacre,  388;  writings,  453. 

Schwartz,  J.  C.,  grant  to,  360. 

Scott,  Charles,  joins  Wayne  with 
Kentucky  troops,  117. 

Scott,  Martin,  eccentricities,  322. 

Scott,  Winfield,  physical  stature,  282; 
in  Black  Hawk  War,  323,  328-37; 
Memoirs,  453. 

Sears,  John,  teacher  among  Ottawas, 
345- 

Second  Infantry,  movements  of,  321, 
338. 

Sendale,  Peter,  court  martial  of,  163. 

Settlement,  geographic  factors,  2;  rush 
of,  west  of  Alleghenies,  109. 

Shabbona,  mission  to  Big  Foot's  village, 
315;  opposes  war,  324;  in  Fort  Dear- 
born massacre,  397. 

Shavehead,  story  of,  258-59. 

Shawnee  Indians,  employed  on  Chicago 
Portage,  18;  Tecumseh  a  Shawnee, 
185-86. 

Shea,  John  G.,  translation  of  St. 
Cosme's  letter,  40;  writings,  454. 

"Sheldon  Thompson,"  carries  troops 
to  Chicago,  329;  cholera  on,  330-32. 

Shirreff,  Patrick,  observations  on  Chi- 
cago, 348-51,  3575  writings,  453. 

Sibley,  Solomon,  negotiates  treaty,  343. 

Siggenauk,  in  Spanish  attack  on  St. 
Joseph,  100;  De  Peyster  tries  to 
capture,  100-101. 

Simcoe,  John,  hostility  toward  Ameri- 
cans, 115;  builds  fort  at  Maumee 
Rapids,  118;  proposes  fort  at  Chi- 
cago, 127. 


Simmons,  David,  death,  247. 

Simmons,  John,  death,  247. 

Simmons,  Mrs.  John,  in  Fort  Dear- 
born massacre,  224;  captivity,  247- 
51;  later  career,  251. 

Sinclair,  Patrick,  commander  at  Macki- 
nac,  94;  operations  against  Ameri- 
cans, 95-98;  arrests  Chevalier,  101. 

Sioux  Indians,  French  trade  with,  54; 
and  Foxes  ally,  76-77;  in  attack  on 
St.  Louis,  95,  98;  plot  against  Fort 
Snelling,  283;  kill  Black  Hawk's 
followers,  334. 

Smith,  E.  Kirby,  at  Fort  Winnebago, 
321. 

Smith,  William  C.,  occupies  Kinzie's 
house,  142;  praises  La  Lime,  149; 
first  Fort  Dearborn  surgeon,  170; 
part  in  garrison  feud,  171-72;  letter 
of,  454. 

Snelling,  Fort,  plot  of  Sioux  and  Foxes 
against,  283;  troops  from,  in  Winne- 
bago War,  317. 

"Snipe,"  story  of,  357-58. 

South  Water  Street,  only  business 
street,  349;  Indians  dance  down,  354. 

Southwest  Company,  traders  hostile 
to  Americans,  264. 

Spain,  British  plans  against,  94-95; 
efforts  to  regain  Northwest,  105; 
war  with,  discussed,  156. 

Spanish,  operations  in  lower  Mississippi 
Valley,  94 ;  defense  of  St.  Louis,  95-96 ; 
expedition  against  St.  Joseph,  100- 
103;  king,  on  ownership  of  Northwest, 
103. 

Spring  Wells,  treaties  negotiated  at,  262. 

Starved  Rock,  capital  of  La  Salle's 
colony,  5;  Tonty  ordered  to  fortify, 
32;  Iroquois  destroy  village  at,  33; 
Fort  St.  Louis  built  on,  35;  Foxes 
destroyed  near,  46,  66-67;  French 
retire  to,  60-6 1;  Foxes  capture,  64; 
Illinois  abandon,  64.  See  also  Fort 
St.  Louis. 

Stevens,  Frank  E.,  writings,  323,455. 

Stiliman,  Isaiah,  defeat  of,  324. 

Storrow,  Samuel  A.,  reception  at  Fort 
Dearborn,  153;  description  of  Chi- 
cago, 280. 

Street,  Joseph,  report  of,  320. 

Stuart,  Robert,  agent  of  American  Fur 
Company,  277;  at  Chicago  Treaty 
of  1833,  360-61. 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


Sumner,  E.  V.,  at  Fort  Winnebago,  321. 
"Superior,"  carries  troops  to  Chicago, 

329- 

Suttenfield,  John,  death,  246,  433. 
Swearingen,  James  S.,  leads  troops  to 

Chicago,    131-34;     connection   with 

Fort  Dearborn,  170;    journal,  373- 

77;  papers,  378-79,  455- 

Talon,  Jean  Baptiste,  sends  Joliet  to 

explore  Mississippi,  22-23. 
Tamaroa  Indians,  St.  Cosme  stationed 

among,  42. 
Tanner,  John,  crosses  Chicago  Portage, 

13,  19,  143-44;  narrative  of,  455. 
Tarke,  speech  of,  124. 
Taylor,  Zachary,  in  Black  Hawk  War, 

323- 
Tecumseh,    protagonist    of    Harrison, 

120;     career,      185-92;      repudiates 

Tippecanoe     affair,      195;     attacks 

Hull's  line  of  communications,  209; 

sends  to  Chicago  news  of  Hull's  re- 
treat, 222;  cause  of  agitation  led  by, 

341;  biography,  442. 
Teggart,  Frederick  J.,  study  of  Spanish 

attack  on  St.  Joseph,  100,  102,  455. 
Thompson,  Seth,  in  garrison  feud,  173- 

76;  death,  177. 
Thwaites,  Reuben  G.,  on  Mrs.  Kinzie's 

massacre  narrative,  382. 
"Tiger,"  carries  Jacob  B.  Varnum  to 

Chicago,  274. 
Tippecanoe,    battle,     192;    Tecumseh 

repudiates,  195;  forces  engaged,  199- 

200. 
Tippecanoe    Creek,   Tecumseh's   town 

at  mouth  of,  188. 
Tonty,  Illinois  career,  31-36;  in  Denon- 

ville's  campaign,  38;   trading  license 

at  Fort  St.  Louis,  44,  286;  describes 

Durantaye's  fort,  47-48. 
Topinabee,  brother-in-law  of  Burnett, 

347;    pleads  for  whisky,  348;    Pot- 

tawatomie  chief,  377. 
Tousey,  Thomas,  explores  Des  Plaines 

River,  12-13. 
"Tracy,"  voyage  to  Chicago  in  1803, 

131-32. 
Trade,  rivalry  over,  at  Fort  Dearborn, 

172;    channels  of,  263;    dependence 

of   Indians   upon,    285;     Indian,   at 

Chicago,   285-309.     See  also  Indian 

Trade;  Traders. 


Traders,  French,  in  Illinois,  25-26,  285; 
treachery  of,  to  British,  96;  influ- 
ence of  Canadian,  in  Northwest,  128; 
disputes  of,  156;  sympathize  with 
British,  198;  smuggle  goods  into 
Northwest,  263;  carried  across  Chi- 
cago Portage,  289;  interest  of,  in 
Chicago  Treaty  of  1833,  355. 

Treaties,  with  Indians  of  Northwest, 
108-10,  191,  262-63;  Indian  ideas 
concerning,  178;  whites  break,  180- 
81;  Indian  fidelity  to,  181;  collec- 
tions of,  456;  Treaty  of  Greenville, 
42-43,  122-25,  191,  225,  262,  340;  of 
Paris,  79;  of  Utrecht,  79;  of  alliance 
with  France,  103;  of  1789,  103,  105, 
107,  340;  of  Fort  Finney,  109;  of 
Fort  Harmar,  100-10,  122-23,  190- 
91;  of  Fort  Mclntosh,  109,  190-91; 
John  Jay's  treaty,  125-26;  second, 
of  Greenville,  179;  Chicago,  of  1821, 
183,343-48;  of  Ghent,  262;  Chicago, 
of  1833,  277,  348-66;  of  Butte  des 
Mortes,  312,  317;  of  Prairie  du 
Chien,  312,  317,  358,  364-65. 

Trimble,  William  A.,  at  Chicago  Treaty 
of  1821,345. 

Trueman,  Alexander,  murder  of,  115. 
Turkey   River,    British    capture   boat 

near  mouth  of,  96. 
Turner,  William,  letter  of,  244. 
Twiggs,  David  E.,  at  Fort  Winnebago, 

321;     in    Black    Hawk    War,    323; 

cholera  among  troops  of,  329-30. 

United  States,  discord  with  Great 
Britain,  106;  relations  with  North- 
western Indians,  108,  263;  reluctant 
to  begin  war,  no,  115;  Indian  policy, 
179-84,  292-93;  military  power  in 
1812,  201-2;  unreadiness  for  war, 
202-5;  navy  in  War  of  1812,  202-3; 
army  in  1812,  203-5;  factory  system, 
289-309;  rangers,  cholera  among, 
335- 

Urbana,  Hull's  army  at,  207-8. 

Utrecht,  Treaty  of,  79. 

Van  Cleave,  Charlotte  Ouisconsin, 
reminiscences,  456. 

Van  Horn,  James,  captivity,  238-39. 

Van  Voorhis,  Isaac,  stationed  at  Fort 
Dearborn,  177;  letter  of,  196,  223, 
387;  in  Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  226, 
420;  given  key  of  factory,  299;  death 
386-87,  407. 


INDEX 


479 


Varnum,  Jacob  B.,  career,  270-76;  ig- 
norance oif  Indian  trade,  303;  on 
abolition  of  Chicago  factory,  308; 
journal,  457. 

Varnum,  Joseph  B.,  commends  John 
Whistler,  174;  factor  at  Chicago, 
297-98;  at  Mackinac,  298. 

Venango,  captured  in  Pontiac's  war,  80. 

Vermilion  River,  Danville  militia  cross, 
316. 

Vincennes,  population,  82;  Clark  gains, 
87;  Hamilton  captures,  87-88; 
Clark's  expedition  against,  88-89; 
position  of,  in  frontier,  97;  Council 
of  1810,  190-92;  Heald  stationed  at, 
402. 

Wabansia,  opposed  to  war,  324. 

VVabasha,  operations  against  Ameri- 
cans, 95,  98. 

Walker,  Rev.  Jesse,  pioneer  preacher, 
245- 

Wapsipinicon  River,  Fox  posts  on,  72. 

War  of  1812,  strength  of  contestants, 
201-5;  news  of  declaration,  at 
Maiden,  209;  at  Fort  Dearborn,  214. 

Washington,  Fort,  Harmar  starts  from, 
no;  St.  Clair's  expedition  gathers 
at,  in;  army  flees  to,  114;  Wayne 
establishes  camp  near,  116. 

Washington,  George,  captured,  66; 
favors  Clark's  projects,  103;  opinion 
of  Wayne,  115-16;  sends  Jay  to 
England,  125;  appoints  Wayne  to 
receive  Northwestern  posts,  126;  on 
frontier  violence  toward  Indians, 
1 80;  advocates  government  factory 
system,  292. 

Wau  Bun,  account  of  Fort  Dearborn 
massacre  in,  216,  382-88,  413;  of 
April  murders,  212;  of  Ronan,  223; 
of  Thomas  Burns,  234;  of  captivity 
of  Kinzie  family,  245;  of  captivity  of 
Mrs.  Helm,  247;  of  captivity  of 
Mrs.  Burns,  252;  of  fate  of  Lee 
family,  254-55;  ignores  Helm,  276. 

Wayne,  Anthony,  gains  land  at  Chicago, 
42-43,  123;  expedition  of,  115-22; 
negotiates  Treaty  of  Greenville,  122- 
25;  receives  surrender  of  North- 
western posts,  126;  appreciates 
importance  of  Chicago,  127;  vic- 
tory of  Fallen  Timbers,  119-21,  199, 
292,  340;  courts  martial  under,  162; 
generalship,  199. 


Wayne,  Fort,  built,  122;  garrison  fever- 
stricken,  158;  William  Whistler 
transferred  to,  169;  Rhea  transferred 
to,  176;  Indian  plot  against,  193; 
garrison  in  1812, 198;  campaign,  204; 
officers  at,  ordered  to  assist  Heald, 
217;  Heald  commander  at,  225,  403; 
St.  Joseph  Indians  join  in  attack  on, 
241;  mail  between  Chicago  and,  267; 
factory  at,  295. 

Weatherford,  William,  negotiates  treaty, 
354- 

Webb,  J.  Watson,  letter  of,  267,  457; 
Fort  Dearborn  career,  282-83;  biog- 
raphy, 439. 

WeKau,  attacks  Gagnier  family,  310- 
ii ;  surrender  and  fate  of,  318-20. 

Welch,  Mrs.,  grant  to,  358. 

Wells,  Rebekah,  marriage,  176-77. 
See  also  Heald,  Mrs.  Rebekah. 

Wells,  William,  in  St.  Clair's  defeat, 
115;  leader  of  Wayne's  scouts,  117; 
uncle  of  Rebekah  Wells,  176;  learns 
of  plot  against  Americans,  193;  re- 
ports movements  of  Main  Poc,  194; 
leads  force  to  relief  of  Heald,  217, 
219,  395,  406,  416;  career,  224-25; 
in  Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  226-28; 
and  council  with  Indians,  388;  on 
destruction  of  liquor  and  ammuni- 
tion, 389;  death,  395,  403,  407,  409- 
n. 

Wentworth,  John,  letter  of  Abraham 
Edwards  to,  252-53;  physical 
stature,  282;  statements  of  Scott  to, 
on  cholera,  331;  addresses,  458. 

West,  desires  war  with  Great  Britain, 
195-96. 

Western  Courier,  report  of  Fort  Dear- 
born massacre  in,  392. 

Whisky.     See  Liquor. 

Whistler,  George  W.,  career  of,  169. 

Whistler,  James  A.  McNeil,  and  Fort 
Dearborn,  169-70. 

Whistler,  John,  commander  at  Fort 
Dearborn,  130;  marriage  of  daughter, 
130-31,  158,  170;  "father"  of 
Chicago,  148;  attempts  journey 
to  Cincinnati,  154-55;  map  of  Fort 
Dearborn  and  vicinity,  163-67; 
career,  168;  in  garrison  feud,  171-76; 
transferred  to  Detroit,  175;  letter  to, 
288;  family,  genealogy,  458. 

Whistler,  John,  Jr.,  partner  of  Kinzie, 
172. 


48o 


CHICAGO  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 


Whistler,  Sarah,  marriage,  130-31,  158, 

170. 
Whistler,  William,  journey  to  Chicago, 

131;     race    with    Indian,     160-61; 

career,    168-69;     in    garrison    feud, 

171;  in  Winnebago  War,  318-19;  in 

Black   Hawk   War,   322,   327,   331, 

333,  338. 
Whistler,  Mrs.  William,  and  founding 

of  Fort  Dearborn,  133,  168-69. 
White,  Liberty,  murder  of,  212-13. 

"William  Penn,"  carries  troops  to 
Chicago,  329. 

Winans,  Susan  Simmons,  career,  251; 

narrative  of,  398-99. 
Winnebago,    Fort,    established,    321; 

J.  H.  Kinzie  sub-agent  at,  361,  383. 

Winnebago  Indians,  news  of  depreda- 
tions, 211-12;  commit  April  murders, 
213,  416;  celebrate  war  dance,  283; 
treaties  with,  312,  317,  337;  in 
Black  Hawk  War,  323-24. 

Winnebago  War,  284,  310-21. 
Winnemac,    brings    evacuation    order, 
217,  416;  advises  Heald,  388,  416. 

Winsor,  Justin,  description  of  Chicago 
Portage,  3;  writings,  458. 


Wisconsin,  Nicolet  explores,  52;  aban- 
doned to  Indians,  65;  British  in- 
fluence over  Indians  of,  263. 

Wisconsin  River,  British  assemble  at 
mouth  of,  95;  Black  Hawk  flees  to 
Dalles  of,  334.  See  also  Fox- 
Wisconsin  Waterway. 

Witchcraft  delusion,  187. 

Wolcott,  Alexander,  Indian  agent  at 
Chicago,  239,  270-71,  383;  marriage, 
383-84;  in  charge  of  abandoned 
fort,  314;  urges  bribery  of  Indian 
leaders,  346;  signs  treaty,  364. 

Wolcott,  James,  at  Maumee  City,  239. 

Woodward,  Augustus  B.,  letter  to 
Proctor,  234,  237,  396-97,  422-24, 
428;  Helm  narrative  sent  to,  388; 
letter  of  Helm  to,  announcing  narra- 
tive, 415. 

Worth,  William  J.,  at  Fort  Winnebago, 
321. 

Wright,  Job,  story  of,  258-59. 

Wyandot  Indians,  approve  Treaty  of 
Greenville,  124;  appeal  of,  179;  at 
Maumee  City,  239. 

Zumwalt,  Jacob,  Heald  buys  planta- 
tion of,  244,  404. 


gS  AND  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST. 


